Blame won’t save us from the catastrophe of climate change

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

The only ‘cure’ for events like the Maui fires is prevention (AP)

Blaming officials for not warning of the dangers of wildfires soon enough (eg Hawaii) simply shows the world is still in dangerous denial.

The idea that this is a crisis that can be managed, orchestrated or minimised is mad beyond words.

Humans have ignored this in-full-view, cataclysmic, potentially annihilating phenomenon for decades.

The idea that we can now blame individual officials – whether competent or incompetent is ludicrous.

The only “cure” for this is prevention. Prevention means radically reigning in consumerism and immediately, aggressively outlawing further environmental destruction.

Humans show no signs they are willing to do either.

Blame won’t save us.

Amanda Baker

Edinburgh

David Cameron’s government was the worst in recent memory

I disagree with John Rentoul. Johnson outranks Truss and May in “badness”, as he tilted the Brexit vote and has jeopardised peace in Northern Ireland. Truss was idiotic, but was only in office for 10 minutes; while May did her best in a no-win situation.

But the Cameron/Osborne government was surely the worst. They inherited a good position. Yet Osborne was the architect of austerity, which blights every corner of our lives. And Cameron chose to risk EU membership for a pathetic party consideration.

No contest – the more’s the pity.

Mark Ogilvie

Horncastle

Our pensions must be protected

Stephen Lawrence asks if he’s “missing something“ after suggesting that triple-lock pension increases are somehow inflationary, and goes on to indicate Rishi Sunak’s determination to stick to his pledge to maintain the level of pensions is linked to the Conservative voting habits of the elderly.

Eight per cent of a pitifully meagre weekly pension represents very little in real terms compared to that of low-paid but substantially better-off public sector workers who’ll also receive public sector pensions in addition to state pension provision at some point.

Whether Sunak’s merely playing political games by “allowing” our pensions to creep marginally above inflation I cannot say, but anything which keeps the older generations from throwing themselves on the state when they can’t financially cope has to be a good thing surely? Or am I too missing something?

Steve Mackinder

Denver

Rishi down under?

How can we possibly expect Rishi Sunak to fly all the way to Australia to watch a women’s football game when he is far too busy at home closing all the gender-neutral toilets?

Geoff Forward

Stirling