Michelle Mone’s TV interview was a car crash on the scale of Prince Andrew’s

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One thing that still surprises is just how dim some greedy individuals are, when exposed to their own corruption (PA)

Michelle Mone says her “only mistake” was repeatedly lying (my words, as she couldn’t bring herself to admit it as it is) by denying any benefit from the PPE deal made with her husband’s company at the height of the pandemic.

What about recommending the deal in the first place, knowing that her family would benefit? What about failing to declare an interest to the Lords, against procedure? And then threatening legal action to protect her lies?

I sincerely hope that the National Crime Agency, the Met Police, and the committee overseeing ethics in the Lords investigate further. With any hope, it could lead to the recovery of the ill-gotten gains and Mone’s dismissal from the Lords in disgrace.

At least her claims regarding government malfeasance and incompetence are believable.

Tim Sidaway

Hertfordshire

Greed and gain

One thing that still surprises – though it should not – is just how dim some greedy individuals are, when exposed to their own corruption, even if it went unchecked under this very amenable government.

The Laura Kuenssberg interview with Michelle Mone was – as many have already said – a car crash on the scale of Prince Andrew’s “inability to sweat” debacle.

But would you not think that someone as devious and self-serving as Mone might have thought through an answer other than “poor me”?

Or at least have given her husband a shirt that fit him?

Amanda Baker

Edinburgh

We can’t call ourselves a true democracy

I am writing to express my strong support for proportional representation in the UK’s next general election. Our current first-past-the-post system results in steamroller politics where the party whip is used to enforce the will of the party with the majority, no matter how slim, leaving the rest of the voters disempowered.

Millions of votes are wasted every election, with smaller parties and independent candidates – and those that support them – without any power to influence decisions that impact our daily lives.

Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer recognize that politics is failing to deliver for all its citizens. Yet neither is proposing serious solutions to the problem. We can’t call ourselves a true democracy unless we embrace a fairer, more representative system that truly reflects the diversity of our society and in which every vote counts.

Sue Lister MBE

York

Too much tax?

There is much speculation about whether or not a new higher top-rate income tax rate will be introduced in the next Scottish Budget. It is always amusing to note the claims from certain quarters that its introduction will make Scotland a less attractive place to live and work.

According to some, there will be an apparent “exodus” of middle-class earners, a “brain drain” of those heading to the brighter uplands south of the border where those earning more than £28,000 will pay less income tax than in Scotland.

Putting aside the merits or not of this, what it neglects to highlight is that income tax is only one element of taxation. Scottish council taxpayers, for example, are on average paying £276 a year less than they would in England and £552 less than in Wales. The average council tax bill for every band is cheaper in Scotland than in either England or Wales.

Critical parties also forget to mention that average water charges are lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. Then there is the free tuition enjoyed by Scottish students, with those south of the border having to pay over £9,000 a year. Prescription fees in England are also over £9 per item, while in Scotland they are free.

Let us also not forget that better-funded public services are a key element that makes somewhere an attractive place to live.

Most Scottish taxpayers pay less income tax than their English neighbors, but for those with the broadest shoulders who do pay more let us not forget the likes of lower council tax, lower water charges, free university fees, and free bus travel for pensioners and young people.

Alex Orr

Edinburgh

The parliament we knew no longer exists

The DUP and Northern Ireland Unionists in general appear to want NI to be fully integrated into the UK. They see the Brexit-created trade/customs border in the Irish Sea as a diminution of NI’s relationship with the UK. The DUP seemingly ignored the fact that they championed Brexit.

Yet full integration would entail a return to the post-1801/ pre-1921 relationship minus the Republic of Ireland, i.e. direct rule from Westminster.

Before, Ireland had been a subject territory of England, and subsequently of the UK. It had its own parliament. After the 1798 rebellion, the Irish parliament was incorporated into the UK unitary parliament in 1801.

Full reintegration would involve the dissolution of the devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales, and NI and subjection to an English majority parliament.

These islands do need some form of mutually beneficial unity, in or out of the EU, but not in the present or historical form.

An alternative form is presented in the Good-Friday Agreement. Maximum devolution to all identifiable regions, including to England, dissolution of the Westminster UK parliament, and a Council of Devolved Governments, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Any necessary trade/customs border between GB and RoI/EU via NI would no longer appear to diminish NI’s relationship with the UK. The UK simply would not be an entity. In reality, post-empire building and decline. Post-devolution, the UK as a parliamentary union no longer exists.

Dennis Golden

County Tyrone