Why hasn't Boris Johnson been sacked yet?

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Boris Johnson delivers his speech on the third day of Conservative Party conference (EPA)

Mary Dejevsky might well have a reasonable solution to some immediate Tory problems, but sacking Boris Johnson, with him then challenging Theresa May for the leadership, would be my preferred option. This is as it most likely would lead to an early general election. The sooner Labour is in power the better.

Dejevsky’s description of Johnson is spot on when she calls him “crass and gaffe-prone”, but where does she get the idea that he “possesses a sense of history”? Surely what he actually has, like many privately educated toffs, is a distorted vision of history, exaggerating the importance of Britain and looking back on a “glorious past” that was, in fact, a time of British-enforced slavery, barbarity and multiple atrocities.

As for having a “capacity for empathy”, it certainly wasn`t in evidence when insulting Buddhists in Burma, writing rude limericks about the Turkish leader, and thinking it funny to ridicule the dead in Libya.

Clearly, Johnson’s sense of humour is puerile in the extreme, but when it is allied with public-school arrogance, and an education which taught a totally biased and inaccurate version of imperial history, the result is a Foreign Secretary who brings embarrassment and shame to us all. MPs on all sides should be demanding his resignation.

Bernie Evans
Liverpool

It’s unfair to criticise May over a cough when male politicians have wrecked this country

As a real leftie – what we used to call a socialist – I can think of many and varied reasons to get rid of Theresa May, but not because she had a cough.

Blair betrayed our youth by introducing tuition fees, created a way for public funds to be channelled into private hands via health and education with PFI – oh, and he kicked off Armageddon in Iraq without a plan.

Cameron, as well as having very poor instincts about people, vetoed the protections that the EU wanted to put in place to protect the steel industry from overproduction and plunged us into the EU referendum without a plan.

Clegg stabbed a generation in the back by reneging on his tuition-fees promise and his follower Farron managed to hide his religious views and views on homosexuality long enough for a term as Liberal Democrat leader.

Corbyn managed to get through an entire party conference without seriously debating the most important political issue of the day – possibly because questions may have been asked about why he’s flip-flopped on Brexit and failed to actively campaign to remain.

May’s possible successors are the current prejudiced Foreign Minister Boris Johnson; George Osborne, who watched Grenfell Tower burn without seemingly linking the disaster in any way to his financial actions when Chancellor; and the toothpick Jacob Rees-Mogg, who opposes abortion even in cases of rape despite admitting that he benefits financially from a drug that is used to induce abortion…

To recap – if you are a man in public office you can be prejudiced, homophobic, misogynistic, incompetent, and a warmonger. If you are a woman, you May not have a cold.

Amanda Baker
Edinburgh

Grant Shapps has the right idea

At last – a Tory MP who knows what he’s talking about! Two cheers for former housing minister Grant Shapps, whose experience in Cabinet makes him eminently well placed to pronounce on the unsuitability for office of anyone not up to the task.

The hapless Theresa might like to consider that true courage is shown not by steaming on with a lack of self-awareness, but by acknowledging one’s limitations – and maybe having some nice duvet days while the Tories squabble themselves into oblivion.

Sue Breadner
Isle of Man

Actually, Monarch’s collapse was caused by Brexit

Mark Thomas is wrong to assert that Simon Watson’s letter attributing Brexit to contributing to Monarch’s failure is ill-placed (Letters).

A very high proportion of airline costs, particularly for fuel, aircraft ownership and so on, are in US dollars. So the Brexit induced devaluation of the pound versus the dollar by up to 20 per cent meant that many of Monarch’s costs increased by that amount.

Also, the significant devaluation of the pound versus the euro has increased the cost of travel to the EU by UK originating passengers, adversely affecting demand thus revenue.

Unlike Ryanair and easyJet, who have large numbers of European bases, thus protecting significant proportions of their costs and revenues from the devaluation of sterling, Monarch was primarily focused on the UK originating market, so Brexit delivered it the perfect storm of increased costs and reduced revenues, on top of the loss of its markets to Egypt and Turkey and the pressure from the larger low-cost carriers (LCCs).

Monarch was under pressure, having changed its business model to compete with the LCCs without the benefit of their economy of scale and also moving away from the long haul charter market. But Brexit sealed its fate.

LN Price
Horsham

Qatar values its workers’ rights

I write in response to Jonathan Liew’s commentary about Qatar’s preparations for the World Cup in 2022.

The majority of workers in Qatar are fairly treated. Passport confiscation, for example, is illegal in Qatar, and we were the first country in the Gulf to impose summer working hour restrictions to protect worker health. These points are overlooked by your article.

Also ignored is our ongoing cooperation with the International Labour Organisation and NGOs to ensure that all workers in Qatar are fairly treated, not just the majority. In the past year we have introduced new laws that protect domestic workers and enable expats to obtain permanent residency in Qatar. This follows extensive efforts to overhaul compliance enforcement, the introduction of the Wage Protection System to ensure wages are paid in full and on time, and the implementation of a new law that guarantees the freedom of movement for all migrant workers.

These are by no means the end of our efforts. We are enormously grateful to the millions of workers who have come to Qatar to help us build our country. We are committed to respecting and safeguarding their rights.

Yousef Ali Al-Khater
Ambassador of the state of Qatar to the UK

Assisted dying could work with the right legislation

I sympathise with those who fear a creeping tendency to permit the killing of mentally ill, physically disabled, or other “at risk” groups. However, in his article James Moore perhaps points to the obvious protection for those groups – statistics. He makes the point that there are large numbers of such people.

Is it beyond us to offer the kindness that people such as those suffering from cruel, painful, and terminal disease seek? The relatively small numbers could be assisted by a panel of legal and other experts that could determine, quickly, the reasonableness of such an application.

Would that not provide all with suitable comfort?

Michael Mann
Shrewsbury