Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces a bleak Christmas in an Iranian cell, no thanks to Boris Johnson

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Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of imprisoned Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said his wife had been chained to a bed in solitary confinement (EPA)

Boris Johnson has spoken of Christians around the world who are facing persecution: “For them, Christmas Day will be marked in private, in secret, perhaps even in a prison cell ... As prime minister, that’s something I want to change.”

Fine words indeed. Let’s see that change.

I don’t know whether Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is Christian or not – and nor does it really matter – but perhaps Johnson could, in his Christmas-inspired zeal, put some real effort into changing her circumstances and bringing her home.

Nazanin will most certainly be spending Christmas Day in a cell and Johnson has signally failed, particularly as foreign secretary and now as prime minister, to do anything positive to support and rescue this British woman.

Her suffering is unimaginable.

Beryl Wall

London W4

Nato commitments

We voted for Brexit in fear of becoming part of Europe. Are we now tied to the US?

Donald Trump is insisting that all Nato countries should spend at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence as part of Nato commitments. Alone, 2 per cent of GDP means nothing; what matters is how the money is spent. The UK does spend just under 2 per cent of GDP on defence, which amounts to £38bn per annum. France spends 1.8 per cent of GDP on defence, which amounts to €37.5bn (£32bn).

The French have spent their money to create a comprehensive defence that is theirs to deploy and control. Yet almost 38 per cent of the UK spend is to suppliers in the US. This dependency is against the advice of the MOD, but their advice has been overridden by recent governments and now Dominic Cummings is about to dismantle any remaining MOD resistance.

Trump wants a large proportion of each Nato player’s 2 per cent spend to go to US suppliers. The UK submits to this requirement. Why? Because we have a “special relationship” with the US. It is a very subservient and very one-sided “special relationship”.

Now, as the UK leaves a united Europe, it will become even more one-sided. The US arms and defence industries are rubbing their hands with glee.

That is why Trump loves Brexit. He wants the UK in his pocket and he wants a united Europe to melt away.

Martin Deighton
Woodbridge

Time for change

Rebecca Long Bailey is the reported front runner for the Labour leadership. However, she is merely the reincarnate of the crestfallen Jeremy Corbyn and his vote losing, left-wing ideals.

If the Labour Party wishes to become a serious challenge to the Tories, it needs to find a much more centrist leader with the cojones to extricate him or herself from the soon-to-be ex-leader. It needs to adopt a completely new agenda to return the party to the political arena – otherwise it will languish and be left fallow, not dissimilar to the Liberal Democrats.

Christopher Learmont-Hughes
Caldy, Wirral

Not for sale?

Boris Johnson praises the nurses and other public sector staff whose footwear he is not fit to lick for working over Christmas. He will be on holiday until the New Year.

Margaret Thatcher said British Gas and other energy sectors were not for sale; John Major said British Rail was not for sale; David Cameron said Royal Mail was not for sale. Now the current prime minister says the NHS is not for sale.

We have two ears and one mouth: if only people had used their ears to hear the subtext of Johnson’s sloganeering

Richard Kimble
Leeds

BBC bore

Isn’t it time the BBC stopped it’s News 24 coverage? It’s repetitive, boring and, in my view, often biased, causing more harm than good.

Tim Sayer
Bristol

Stern warnings on climate change

The ongoing failure to tackle the cause of the climate crisis, rather than the symptoms, is going to cost us all dear.

Needless to say, his words were ignored. Now, the cost is beginning to grow: rising sea levels, increased floods and droughts are all among the symptoms to be dealt with.

The human being is supposed to be a rational creature. Why does it not respond to the evidence and seriously act to address this crisis, rather than simply addressing the symptoms as they arise?

Paul Donovan
London E11

Oh Christmas tree

Like so many things these days, even the shortage of Christmas trees – mostly in the US, but also elsewhere – is put at the door of climate change. However, that is not the root cause.

The real reason for the shortage is that Christmas tree farms had their tax breaks cancelled about 10 years ago, so this particular form of land use is no longer lucrative. What had been planted and grown to the desired height has been harvested and then abandoned. Profligate government spending and irresponsible “money printing” (or “quantitative easing” as it became known), causing unreported inflation, is not helping either.

Fred Nicholson
Westcliff, Essex