The belligerent refusal of some people to wear masks is just prolonging the pandemic

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

Ministers have been urged to taka a firmer stance on masks (PA)

I was very disappointed to read the letter from Jonathan Castro, publicly voicing his past refusal to conform to mask regulations and his wish to never see another mask inside a retail establishment again.

Sadly, I have seen this attitude and far more belligerent non-compliance around Covid on social media, in public and across the printed media. None of these statements or actions are in any way helpful in combating the pandemic. The only thing these people are achieving is to prolong the health crisis and cause the further imposition of the very restrictions they are campaigning against.

To avoid any confusion, I am pleased to confirm that Covid-19 is not a hoax. It exists, there have been more than 5 million deaths worldwide. Vaccines work, masks work, and social distancing is wise even when not mandatory.

Robert Boston

Kent

I am so proud of Jonathan Castro in yesterday’s Letters. His inalienable right to infect minimum wage workers in any shop he chooses to grace by his presence must be protected at all costs.

It’s not like anyone has died during the pandemic or anything, or that the NHS has been running red hot for so long that staff are burning out at alarming levels. I hope Conservative Party local associations all over the country are rushing to contact him, as he would make the perfect Tory MP.

Tip to Mr Castro, though, ensure you have a second job lined up before your interview, preferably in a tax haven, so you can demonstrate you intend to work against the interests of the vast majority of your constituents at all times. That should clinch it with the panel. A true hero for our times. See you at Peppa Pig World, Jonathan, cheers.

John Murray

Bracknell

The Metaverse

In his article about the “Metaverse”, Steve Boggan tells us that we enter this brave new world by wearing headsets. He didn’t mention how those headsets interact with my spectacles, which I need to see with, and the hearing aids I need to hear properly with.

It seems to me that only the able-bodied can enter, which seems totally contrary to the Metaverse concept.

Nick Haward

Musselburgh

Babies in Westminster

I was absolutely fuming when I saw in the news that MP Stella Creasy was told that she could not have her baby with her when she was in the House of Commons.

We congratulated the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, when her 3-month-old baby accompanied her to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Jacinda stated that she wanted to “create a path for other women”. Women watched her and realised that it’s possible for even new mothers to have important roles in government.

Why are we now going back in time and suddenly telling women that, actually, they can’t? Babies aren’t a negative distraction anyway – they’re usually either asleep or feeding, so what’s the big deal? Let’s just compare this to the behaviour of the shouting, jeering and heckling MPs (and some MPs are sleeping in the Commons too, I’m told).

I’m not an MP myself, but I am a district councillor and a mother to two young children. I am proud to say that both of my children have regularly accompanied me to council meetings as babies, and this has always been welcomed by Torridge District Council staff and fellow councillors.

Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin

Liberal Democrat district councillor

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Two months too late for boosters

Faced with the omicron variant and the NHS backlog, the government is stepping up the booster jab campaign two months too late.

Had the government acted on urgent warning calls from July for vulnerable adults, boosters would have started two months earlier and Javid would not now be urging far too many vulnerable adults to take up their boosters to protect them and the NHS at this late and perilous stage.

Trevor Lyttleton MBE

London