The Tories may have shot themselves in the foot with the desperate supermajority scaremongering

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The Tories’ attempts to warn voters against giving Labour a supermajority could result in more people opting for smaller parties (POOL/AFP via Getty)

The Tories’ latest wheeze in scaremongering is to raise fears of a Labour supermajority. That’s a bit rich coming from a political party that supports the first-past-the-post electoral system, which makes possible such a result.

Nevertheless, it’s a tactic that might work in getting the many still-undecided voters to prevent the Tories from being hammered at the general election. Their aim, as highlighted in Monday’s editorial, now is to gain enough MPs to mount an effective opposition to Labour – a role that they should find easy to fulfil having gained experience in opposing their own government!

On the other hand, the Tories have proved such an unruly lot that in raising fears of a Labour supermajority they are more likely to encourage undecided voters to vote for another party, such as the Liberal Democrats, to form the official opposition. Especially as it’s a loathing of the Tories – not a fear of Labour – that seems to be the persuading factor in how floating voters intend to vote.

Roger Hinds

Surrey

A plea for integrity among the ruling classes

A few decades ago, Margaret Thatcher chose to look the other way when MPs filed their expenses because she knew that, at that time, the public would not stand for an increase in MPs salaries and, therefore, a degree of stealth was called for. Despite this, and with the knowledge that the supervision was negligible, an amazing number of MPs chose to cheat with their expenses.

If the current investigation into bets placed on the election date reveals senior Conservatives knowingly broke the rules, it will again confirm that cheating is hopelessly endemic among the ruling echelons. It must be heartbreaking for the honest, caring and hardworking folk who genuinely seek to make the country and the world a better place.

Tony Baker

North Yorkshire

A lease deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Nigel Farage’s recent comments about the Russian invasion of Ukraine have reminded me of a piece by Mary Dejevsky published in The Independent in 2022, titled “The West is attempting to goad Russia into a war it doesn’t want”.

Admittedly her article had a proper historical context and rationale which is totally lacking in the Farage outburst. However, the West must now leave some room for a grown-up dialogue that could bring an equitable end to this conflict.

One solution I have never heard voiced is the possibility of the long-term lease of Crimea and the eastern region to Russia, like Hong Kong, in return for recognition of Ukraine’s sovereignty and making a substantial contribution to the country’s reconstruction.

Peter Smith-Cullen

Dunston

Why is anyone taking Farage seriously?

It’s a sad reflection on British society that a significant number of people, even if a minority, seem to think that Farage could become leader of the Conservative Party, or even prime minister. It’s incredible to me that anyone could believe a word from his self-serving mouth.

Why aren’t his opponents playing the easily available video clips from a couple of years ago of his selling greetings and messages on a video messaging site for a few quid – especially the clip where he was fooled into saying “Up the Ra”? To me that suggests the man was too greedy and stupid to even think about or understand what he was saying. That is a true reflection of his shallowness.

Even Donald Trump selling Bibles was glamorous and highbrow by comparison.

How are these two clowns anywhere near political leadership? They are dangerous because so many people can’t, or refuse to, see beyond their headline-grabbing and populist veneer.

John Maxwell

Bournemouth