Stop using the NHS for cheap political stunts – it’s an insult to our selfless health service staff

Send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I am appalled at the depths to which political debate about the NHS has sunk to in this election.

The NHS faces significant challenges – not least an ageing population causing extraordinary demand – and rigorous debate is understandable. Indeed, it is right. But for opposition parties, and elements of the media, to resort to cheap rhetoric and sensationalist stunts is unacceptable and deserves to be treated for what it is – an insult to the intelligence of the British people and a slur on the selflessness of the staff that work in the NHS.

Any voter genuinely concerned about the future of the NHS would do well to reject such amateurism this Thursday.

Natalie Webber
Ipswich

Hold your nose

Hold your nose when you vote. It seems a majority of the electorate do not want Dominic Cummings’ Conservative Party, a majority do not want Jon Lansman’s Labour Party and a majority do not want Brexit. Given a different voting system there would be a middle of the road government getting rid of Brexit with another referendum. That just might be in reach if voters steel themselves to vote for Labour, confident that it will not get a majority, but instead a coalition that severely ties its hands.

Jon Hawksley
London

Let’s break the deadlock

Parliamentary deadlock. Whichever way we verbalise it, we’re all thoroughly fatigued, frustrated and fed up with government trying to govern without a majority.

But how can we move forward?

The only conceivable way is a vote for the Conservatives so we can allow parliament to do its job, with a majority, and wave goodbye to the present political paralysis. The country has voted for Brexit, let’s get it done. Let’s spend time focusing on, and investing in, our NHS, schools, public transport, national security and all the other critical issues that we’re facing as a country right now.

It’s now mathematically impossible for Corbyn to even scrape a majority, given the SNP surge in Scotland’s central belt, robbing him of the once safe seats.

Travis Cooper
Sale, Manchester

Labour is taking back control

If Brexit is about taking back our country, then that is what the Labour manifesto does. That is why, 163 economists, proudly signed an open letter on 25 November saying the UK economy needs reform and that Labour deserves to form the next government because it has serious proposals for dealing with Britain’s “deep problems”.

In short, Labour is offering a vital plan for change that will benefit the many and it has the backing of countless economists. The Tory manifesto, on the other hand, just offers more stagnation and policies that only benefit the ultra-wealthy.

Dr Ha-Joon Chang, a leading economist from Cambridge, advocates a need for “a complete overhaul of the economy” and says the manifesto “points to the right direction”. Just one example, a post-Brexit trade deal with the US would hand wads of public money over to US corporations who want to run the NHS. Labour, meanwhile, would stop this and invest significantly in the treasured public service.

Labour wants to spend our taxes to invest in Britain and it has promised democratic public control of vital services – like healthcare, education, energy, and transport. And it makes economic sense. The current state of our privatised railways and water is a disgrace. Our railways are mostly owned by state-owned rail companies from European countries such as Germany. Therefore, if you are against public ownership, you should be against state-owned companies from other countries that are buying up your own economy.

Labour has also pledged a green industrial revolution of massive public investment to tackle the global climate emergency. If we do not do something radical, then the country will be in deep trouble. We need to revive the productive sector of the British economy – the Tories won’t do that, they do not care about us.

And to contrast Labour’s proposals on new green technologies with the Tories record in government, what has this country’s government done in terms of promoting these new sectors that are not only necessary but are potentially very, very good in generating productivity, growth, and jobs? The answer, of course, is next to nothing.

Countless other economists have also highlighted the Tories’ dismal economic record, while backing Labour’s manifesto. Award-winning economist and Green New Deal pioneer Ann Pettifor, for example, has called it “just common-sense economics”. It is.

Julie Partridge
London

Money talks

Currency analysts are forecasting the pound to strengthen if the Conservatives win a majority tomorrow.

They are also forecasting the pound will weaken significantly if Labour wins a majority.

Enough said.

Alice Lockett-Ford
Cardiff

NHS against Brexit

In a very gentle and respectful response to Paul Rowles (Letters, 9 December) and his daughter’s comments – wishing her a full recovery – my husband and I attended an NHS rally in London where speakers included representatives of trusts, consultants, GPs, nurses and midwives, patients and their relatives, and NHS suppliers. The overriding message was “NHS against Brexit” and we have since marched on that.

The negative impact of Brexit on the NHS is going to hit us all very hard. So while acknowledging Mr Knowles’ heartfelt comments, please do not assume he speaks for the NHS. The NHS is against Brexit. It is therefore against a Tory government.

Beryl Wall
London

Baby, it’s cold inside

On the last day of campaigning before the general election, Boris Johnson hid in a fridge to escape Piers Morgan’s questions.

Johnson hid in a fridge.

This is the latest shameful episode in Johnson’s campaign which has been characterised by cowardice and a refusal to submit his policies to scrutiny.

Unlike other party leaders, Johnson has refused to be interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Neil or ITV’s Julie Etchingham.

Last week, Boris Johnson cancelled a public speech in Rochester because five protesters were present to call him out over his racism and the devastation caused by Tory austerity.

The next time Boris Johnson hides in a fridge, the merciful thing to do to such a coward is to shut the door on him.

Sasha Simic
London