Neither money nor Musk should control our politicians

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

We live in a democracy. Money should not be able to control our political leaders, or we will become an oligarchy. (“Musk attacks Starmer as Badenoch calls for grooming gangs inquiry,” Thursday 2 January).

I hope the people of this country can see Musk for what he is and deny his puppets’ power.

Susan Lammin

Dumfries

Social care needs short-term help too

Meaningful reform of social care is long overdue, and, as the chief executive at Anchor, myself and my colleagues welcome the intent to achieve cross-party agreement to finally address an issue affecting growing numbers of some of the most vulnerable people in the country. (“Social care reforms unveiled – but experts blast three-year delay,” Friday 3 January)

We are pleased to see the ongoing commitment to a National Care Service so people can live independently for as long as possible with the right support. This can release much-needed capacity for the NHS and improve the lives of older people.

We, too, stand ready to support Baroness Casey and the work of the independent commission.

But in the meantime, organisations supporting older and vulnerable people are facing significant financial challenges, which may reduce our capacity to help just when demand is growing. It is therefore vital that short-term steps are taken to alleviate the crisis while the commission does its essential work.

Sarah Jones

London

These are UK matters

Who does Elon Musk think he is criticising the UK government? (“Musk attacks Starmer as Badenoch calls for grooming gangs inquiry,” Thursday 2 January) Yes, he’s the richest man in the world – but that doesn’t bestow on him the right to interfere in our government policy.

It’s bad enough that he thinks it’s OK to consider funding Reform (which in my view is wrong), but he has the gall to claim that Jess Phillips should be jailed for refusing to have a Home Office enquiry into the grooming scandal in Oldham, which, she says, should be the responsibility of Oldham MBC. ( “Keir Starmer must hold his nerve – it won’t be long until the Musk slips,” Thursday 2 January)

He should keep his nose – and his money – out of UK matters.

Paul Jervis

Stalybridge

A cunning plan with one tiny flaw

I see the government has announced that suspected people smugglers are now going to face a travel ban (“Suspected people smugglers to face travel and phone bans under new laws,” Thursday 2 January).

I must say, that strikes me as being rather a bold proposal, given how adept these people have proven to be at avoiding border security.

Julian Self

Wolverton

Helping the far-right push their agenda

Just a few weeks after he endorsed Germany’s far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), billionaire Elon Musk has smeared the UK’s Asian community as sexual predators – while calling for the release of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, who is currently serving a jail sentence for contempt of court (“Elon Musk demands Tommy Robinson be freed from prison in fresh conspiracy claims against Keir Starmer,” Thursday 2 January).

Opportunistically using the events in Rochdale 20 years ago, in which vulnerable young women were abused by Asian men, to smear a whole community with collective guilt, is a textbook example of racism. The facts tell a different story.

A Home Office report published in 2020 concluded that the majority of child sexual abuse gangs in the UK were made up of white men under the age of 30. It found no credible proof that grooming gangs were a specific “Muslim problem.”

The UK is experiencing a horrific rise in violence against women. According to police statistics, a woman is killed by a man in the UK every three days. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reports that 2.3 million women aged 16 and over experienced domestic violence last year, and one million women reported experiencing sexual assault.

The far-right are only interested in the minority of cases carried out by ethnic minorities as it helps push their racist agenda.

Sasha Simic

London