The hypocrisy of the drug-taking Tory leadership candidates is appalling

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I couldn't give a damn what various candidates for PM smoked or sniffed in their youth (REUTERS)

I've never been tempted by anything druggier than a glass or three of Remy Martin myself, but frankly I couldn't give a damn what various candidates for PM smoked or sniffed in their youth.

I do care about the callousness they bring to their policies right now – and about the hypocrisy that allows them to turn a blind eye to class A drug-taking among themselves while cheerfully passing laws that strip the desperately needy of their benefits for several weeks, simply for having missed an appointment at the job centre.

Paula Kirby
Inverness

Most people won’t worry that Michael Gove got high on cocaine. Of more concern is the lows they’ll experience if he becomes prime minister.

Roger Hinds
Surrey

I want a pro-EU candidate to vote for

At the moment I am neither a strong Green Party nor Lib Dem supporter. I have been both in the past. Change UK is an irrelevance. Right now, along with many others, I am a strong pro-EU supporter who wants just one centre-left, anti-Brexit candidate to vote for when the next general election arrives, as when it does come it will be about very little other than Brexit until Brexit is resolved.

Discussions at local level to identify that single candidate are required now and should be based on a mix of inter-party hustings to assess candidate calibre and recent voting record, rather than on following any non-negotiable, party position. Individuals’ egos and ambitions should be set aside. Unfortunately, Sian Berry is too busy accusing the Lib Dems of old politics because of their coalition history.

Once the decision to remain in the EU has been taken, the next step is to legislate for proportional representation and hold a second general election along those lines. PR can be promised first time around by the jointly nominated candidates. To do anything else is nothing more than those old politics and an electoral blind alley. Thanks to Berry, there remains the likelihood of yet again splitting the anti-Brexit vote.

Patrick Cosgrove
Shropshire

Britain has spoken against Farage

If Farage thought he was going to attain the triple crown of winning the EU Elections, the endorsement of Trump and the Peterborough vote he received an unpleasant reality jolt that has dented his cocky triumphalism.

What the Peterborough result shows is that the British electorate is intelligent enough to make a distinction between a party that has only one obsessive message on Europe and those that address other more relevant social concerns at home.

Adrian Marlowe
Lindenlaan

Trump’s attitude in the UK was an embarrassment

The American president arrived in the UK carrying his trash bag of insults which he delivered with relish in sharp contrast to his host’s civility and decorum.

His outrageous comments included calling the London mayor a “stone cold loser”, the leader of the opposition party “somewhat of a negative force” and downplayed tens of thousands of protesters as “fake news”.

He shamelessly capitalised on his host’s hospitality by including his children in state dinners which intensified revulsion of the US premier and his family. Feeding from the trough of British hospitality was a total embarrassment. The timing of his visit was poorly planned.

The Brits, renowned for their biting wit, did not disappoint. The centrepiece of their protests was a giant balloon showing Trump as a scowling baby wearing a diaper and clutching a cellphone.

Perhaps my favourite was a banner saying “Make America Great again – impeach Trump,” which pretty much summed up British sentiments about their prickly visitor.

The “special relationship” between the US and Britain has soured. How far fallen America has fallen.

Tejinder Uberoi
California

We must do more for our war veterans

I read with great sadness the letter regarding John Marshall’s father yesterday.

John’s father put his life on the line during the Second World War, paid taxes and raised a family. To me he sounds like a hero of our times and I am here as a testament to his patriotism. Thank you.

Mr Marshall Senior ought to have better treatment in his twilight years. He ought not to have had to sell his memories and chattels in order to live in a nursing home. It is a very sad indictment of the way in which we serve those that saved us from, well, who knows what?

What is Britain becoming? Without old people like Mr Marshall Senior this younger generation may be speaking another language and have a different culture.

Keith Poole
Basingstoke