No Boris Johnson, the only ‘irresponsible crusties’ are the Tories blaming everyone else for the UK’s problems

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Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway (PA)

I see our prime minister Boris Johnson has called the Insulate Britain protesters “irresponsible crusties” for blockading traffic around London and stopping people going about their business normally.

This took me by surprise because I thought the “irresponsible crusties” were in Manchester at the moment at some sort of conference, wearing high-viz jackets and protesting about the rest of the country for causing its current problems.

Chris Brookes

Alsager, Cheshire

Sort it out Boris

Why is this totally inept government always caught on the hop?

Did it really think HGV drivers from the EU would dash over here to help us out?

For goodness sake, Boris and Co, get real and sort this out!

Suzie Taylor

Gloucestershire

Diabolical

What Rishi Sunak is doing is way beyond appalling; I believe it is quite simply diabolical. There is no other way of putting it.

Twenty pounds extra a week is a fortune to those poorer families who, over the past 17 months, have come to heavily rely upon it in order to survive.

How this man, who has an alleged personal fortune in excess of £2m, can do this thing is, in my view, unspeakably vile.

It’s highly likely in many households that children will be the main ones to suffer as parents tear their hair out trying to feed and adequately clothe them, as well as pay utility bills and rent.

Just out of interest, one wonders how many millions of pounds were recklessly squandered by this government on PPE equipment that was unfit for purpose provided by Tory cronies who had absolutely no experience in manufacturing such items.

Let alone the vast quantities of money which the hopelessly useless test and trace app cost the British taxpayer.

Linda Evans

London

Crack down on protesters

Well done Priti Patel for pledging to come down hard on protesters blocking our roads.

Our home secretary needs to give the courts special powers too, such as are currently only used against terrorists.

Otherwise the protesters will just go on and on causing chaos for hard-working citizens as our economy returns to something like pre-pandemic levels.

Geoffrey Brooking

Havant, Hampshire

Action not targets

The prime minister’s announcement of a carbon-free electricity network by 2035 is welcome. But we need to see concrete action now, which makes explicit the preference for a carbon-free electricity generation.

Battery storage at scale is essential to make this a reality, to ensure renewable, clean energy can be stored and intermittency issues can be tackled, so we can move away from being a fossil fuel generation.

To achieve this, two things must happen. Ofgem must change the way batteries are treated when connecting to the grid, as they are currently unfairly penalised when they are clearly part of the solution. Secondly, more long-term contracts for services must be made available to encourage an uptake in investment ahead of the 2035 date.

This will reduce costs for consumers and enhance security of supply. Without these changes, Boris Johnson’s statements will remain as mere ambition. Ultimately, it is action that is needed, not arbitrary targets.

James Basden

Founder and director of Zenobe Energy