Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid have supported the unsupportable for far too long

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There must be some decent and honest Tories somewhere on the backbenches who could do a half-decent job until the next general election (AFP/Getty)

So the sheep in Johnson’s cabinet, already very soiled by their association with him, are finally trying to separate themselves out from the even filthier goats by making it clear that they are no longer prepared to go on telling lies to keep Johnson in a post he should obviously never have been appointed to.

Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid will doubtless have resigned in the hope of succeeding Johnson in No 10, but it should be much too late for that – they have supported the unsupportable for far too long.

The goats will carry on until they are driven out of the pen, because they are well aware that no other prime minister would appoint them.

There must be some decent and honest Tories somewhere on the backbenches who could do a half-decent job until the next general election.

D Maughan Brown

York

‘Yes’ men and women

Many of The Independent’s articles today castigate Boris Johnson, quite rightly, for his totally unacceptable governance of the country, which includes failure in all levels of political, managerial, truth and honesty.

Conservative MPs cannot look back on their conduct without feeling shame for backing the demise of integrity within the party. They cannot now turn on their leader, whom they have supported for six years, without sharing in the blame for the state of the country.

There are MPs who sucked up to Boris because their jobs relied on the support they gave him. Those MPs stupid enough to publicly praise and express unquestioning support for Mr Johnson’s reckless governance and lies must now regret ever being associated with him. They have made themselves into a laughing stock; now considered nothing more than “yes” men and women.

When it comes to election time, the people of Britain must look closely at their MP’s willingness to support the reprehensible behaviour of Boris Johnson.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

Jam tomorrow

The current state of the UK government is a great illustration of how populism fails in the long term.

Populism is about promising jam tomorrow but never delivering it. After all, if they were to deliver it, it might be the wrong flavour, or too chunky, or in the wrong sized jars. There would be complaints.

So they deliver nothing and keep everyone excited about getting their jam. However, eventually, the punters start asking where their jam is. So the populists have to make up a story about supply issues. Then the public sees through this story and they have to invent another one and another one.

At this point the public sees the populists for the fraudsters that they really are. Revealed not by the failure to deliver the jam but by the ever more ridiculous stories to cover that failure.

Unfortunately, it takes a few years for the populists to be found wanting, and in that time they inflict long-term damage on the country. The world should look at us now and learn the lessons.

Bernard Cudd

Morpeth

The psychology of Boris Johnson

When I taught psychology, we covered “negative conditioning”, ie if something is nasty then we rapidly learn not to do it again.

One would imagine that Boris Johnson, after a life of questionable behaviours, obvious evasion from their consequences and finally being caught, followed by the firings, expensive divorces, and the various public humiliations, would have worked out that such behaviour was a very poor strategy.

There is, of course, “positive conditioning”, a profitable reward for a behaviour which encourages that behaviour to continue.

The depressing explanation for the prime minister’s paucity of moral code must therefore be that the number of dodgy behaviours for which he has not yet been called to account must exceed the ones where he has been found out.

John Whittle

Penrith

Rose-tinted spectacles

Nadhim Zahawi says that parts of the economy are flourishing.

Where can I get spectacles like his with which to view the country?

Joanna Pallister

Durham

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Empty seats at Wimbledon

I too am very unhappy and annoyed to see empty seats at Wimbledon. My friend and I have been dedicated fans for over 50 years.

I have been to Wimbledon twice when it was possible to be allocated tickets via a tennis club. Both times, I had tickets for number one court and it rained most of the time. I have tried to get tickets again recently and followed the application process, but with no success.

Living in the north of England, it is an expedition requiring a train journey and overnight stay so I can’t just queue on the off-chance.

Wimbledon, please make it easier for people in the north to enjoy these events live. This year, I didn’t even receive the email saying they were on sale till they were all gone.

What went wrong with your system? Please allocate more tickets to dedicated fans rather than to people enjoying corporate hospitality.

Mary Sapsford

Cumbria