Labour can’t be honest on Gaza, and it has cost them dearly

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

We cannot continue to plead support for a two-state solution without recognising one of the states involved (PA)

The turnaround in Labour’s position for recognition of Palestinian statehood has cost them dearly. Not just high-profile MP election defeats, but the swathes of condemnation at constituency level.

So, Keir Starmer, why have you so publicly and so quickly retracted from a manifesto pledge?

We cannot continue to plead support for a two-state solution without recognising one of the states involved. And we cannot continue to condone the current loss of life as it approaches 40,000, mostly Muslim.

If Labour cannot be honest on Gaza, what other pledges are at risk?

Dave Hill

Waterlooville

The French do not want the left

A closer look at the French general election results shows that the left-wing alliance has no mandate to govern and their celebrations seem out of place. True, the left group obtained 180 seats, but the centre-right parties obtained 377 seats when grouped together, which gives them an outright majority which the left can never realise. This would mean finally accepting the National Rally which is now part of the French political scene, whether the others like it or not.

Jean-Luc Melenchon claimed victory for the left when it was evident that the French voted massively for the centre-right parties. Melenchon’s La France Insoumise obtained 71 seats, less than 13 per cent, while the Socialist Party had 64 seats, less than 11 per cent.

They have no legitimate reason to claim any right to govern. The party which won the most seats was the National Rally with 143 seats, while Emmanuel Macron’s supporters obtained 98 per cent, putting them in second place. If the president has to choose a prime minister from the leading party (groups are not political parties) then the National Rally should be given the opportunity to name a PM, followed by Macron’s Renaissance Party.

With less than 35 per cent of the overall vote, the left should appreciate that the French do not want them.

Peter Fieldman

Paris

A democratic duty

The history of noble resignations set out by Roger Hinds is unlikely to move Joe Biden.

If the president is able, at this late moment, to observe that others believe it is dangerous for him to continue, then he should do his duty to himself, his family, his nation and withdraw his candidacy.

If he admits to himself that his once lively intelligence has waned, then he has a duty to withdraw his candidacy.

And if his trusted advisers believe he no longer has the ability to discern whether he is capable of standing for president, then they have a duty to persuade him to withdraw his candidacy.

Steven Fogel

London

The best it gets

A few days on from the SNP’s shockingly poor general election showing and, as Keir Starmer visits Edinburgh, we’re reminded that John Swinney and Stephen Flynn remain in post: Swinney as party leader and Flynn as SNP Commons leader.

At least Rishi Sunak did the honourable and, indeed, logical thing and swiftly announced his resignation as Tory leader.

The SNP performed even worse than the Tories last week, holding on to merely 19 per cent of their seats... whereas the Tories retained 33 per cent. But maybe the scarcity of talent in the SNP means that, despite Swinney and Flynn leading their party to electoral disaster, there’s no one better to replace them.

Martin Redfern

Roxburghshire

Don’t dismiss the right

The Independent’s recent editorial talks about the UK as being “politically stable” when compared to other EU countries such as France and Germany – following the relative success of right-wing parties in those countries.

This strikes me as a little smug and superficial. If the UK had taken part in the EU elections then Reform could well have been the largest party, and taken many seats under the proportional system used by Europe.

Similarly, the first-past-the-post parliamentary system means that the number of seats won by Reform in the recent election in no way reflects the number of votes they actually gained.

The threat posed by right-wing populists and the appeal they have to many alienated and disaffected UK citizens should not be dismissed so lightly.

Alan Brown

Wirral

Instruments of soft power

It is depressing to see no mention in John Rentoul’s recent article of David Lammy, or indeed of any aspect of foreign affairs. The UK may be a collection of islands geographically, but it surely cannot afford to go on trying to live in an insular political bubble.

The world beyond our shores is a dangerous mess, with climate change, the US election, wars in Sudan, Israel and Ukraine, growing Chinese assertiveness, the rise of far-right nationalism in a slew of EU member states – the list is a long one, quite apart from an urgent need to repair the damage done by Brexit.

Lammy could start by restoring and strengthening the instruments of soft power, which we can exploit so well but which were neglected and reduced by the Tories. We are fortunate to possess a powerful asset in the English language; let us once again exploit it through the BBC World Service and the British Council, and maybe put overseas aid back into a separate government department, restored to 0.7 per cent of GNP.

These measures alone would be far more effective, as well as a good deal cheaper, than massive aircraft carriers and military conscription.

Richard Thomas

Wye