It’s time to give credit where it is due over the vaccine rollout

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Nadhim Zahawi speaks in the House of Commons (VIA REUTERS)

I have never been a fan of Nadhim Zahawi and usually see him as a blustering, evasive Tory cheerleader but I have to admit his performance as vaccine deployment minister has caused me to rethink and make a complete U-turn.

He is focused, well prepared, knowledgeable and importantly engages and attempts to address questions put to him.

So all credit where credit is due and hopefully his boss and other colleagues within the government will learn from him; shape up, address the issues and see questions as an opportunity to learn and engage and not automatically to dodge, weave and obfuscate.

John Simpson

Ross-On-Wye

A frank discussion

Dr Frank Atherton, chief medical officer for Wales, has confirmed that Covid-19 had a devastating impact on the poorest areas of Wales. Mortality rates in parts of the south Wales valleys were more than double those in more affluent areas.

The disproportionate impact of the virus has revealed deeply entrenched inequalities in Wales. Sadly, many people have died and families and communities are mourning their loved ones. This should be a wakeup call for both the Welsh and UK governments. We urgently need an honest and inclusive debate about the causes of poverty in Wales and how we can begin to address them.

Martin Hoban

Pontyclun

Wider conduct

Your headline on the issue of the public inquiry into the response to the Covid-19 pandemic is too focussed on Boris Johnson.

Any inquiry will need to cover the wider conduct of government and its ministers, including Matt Hancock and Gavin Williamson.

John Harrison

Chorley

School days

Bring back the three “R”s and scrap the subjects in the afternoon. This way all primary school-age children will have a good way of catching up and will have a very good chance of accessing the wider curriculum later in the comprehensive schools.

A lot of children lack the basics so let’s get it sorted. I am saying this as a primary school teacher.

Extending the school day will not benefit the younger pupils as they get tired quickly and then that is counter-productive.

David Lewis

Merthyr Tydfil

More magic

Further to Jill Stephenson and the "magic money tree", I will never again believe that "we cannot afford it" said by government means anything more than "we do not want to afford it".

After years of apparently vital austerity there was suddenly a magic money tree to spend on things like Brexit.

Joanna Pallister

Durham City

Long memory

As the Irish might say, the dogs in the street could see that if Boris Johnson persisted with his hare-brained scheme to “take back control” of UK borders, there would have to be customs checks either between mainland UK and Northern Ireland or between the province and the Republic. Both were highly undesirable. The former is a threat to peace and the latter endangers the transport of goods. There is no possibility of compromise. The problem is insoluble.

The vaccination programme is going very well. It’s the only thing this government has succeeded with. Everything else has been a shambles. Let’s hope that the great British public are not so dazzled by this recent display of apparent competence that at election time they forget all that went before.

As Andrew Grice has said it does seem that the adults have taken over Downing Street. But as long as the PM is an easily influenced popularity seeker, the nursery could be re-established at any moment. We must remember that.

Susan Alexander

Frampton Cotterell