If the PM is found to have broken Covid laws by police, he must resign

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

It is Tory MPs and Conservative Party members who are responsible for Johnson being in charge of their party (PA Wire)

The cabinet line on Partygate now seems to be that the prime minister should not resign if fined by police for breaking laws he brought in and made everyone follow, as it would be “undemocratic” for the police to decide who is the prime minister.

Boris Johnson is not a president; he was democratically elected only by a small number of the country’s voters as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. It is Conservative MPs and party members who are responsible for him being in charge of their party.

It would actually be undemocratic for the police to give in to pressure from the government, and fail to uphold the rule of law because Johnson happens to be prime minister; it smacks of dictatorship.

All the police can do in this case is fine someone who has broken the law. It would then be down to the prime minister to recognise he lied to parliament when he said “no rules were broken”, and resign. That would be a result of Johnson’s lack of honesty in office, not of the Met’s fair and consistent application of the law. How low can he and his cabinet last?

Katharine Powell

Cheshire

An insider’s view for Harri

Is it possible that the liberal, clever and fearless Guto Harri is not there to help the prime minister “get a grip” but to enjoy an insider’s view of the forthcoming Downing Street debacle?

As a career move, it will do Harri no harm at all, and it may put him in a position to discreetly edge the process towards its inevitable denouement.

Gavin Turner

Gunton, Norfolk

Scrapping self-isolation measures

I would simply like to offer my applause and thanks for James Moore’s article.

Perhaps Boris Johnson would like to respond to Mr Moore’s question, “How is going out on the town knowing you’re a viral vector [for Covid] any different from getting behind the wheel under the influence?”, in a way that doesn’t involve patronising tripe peppered with Greek and Latin, and served with a smirk.

Dropping self-isolation for a virus that is still a severe risk to up to half a million immunocompromised citizens does demand an extraordinary justification.

Ian Henderson

Norwich

Pensioners have been forgotten

Rishi Sunak leads a life of opulence, with a multimillionaire for a wife. Is he really the person to understand the poverty and hardship faced by real people?

The triple lock was removed from the state pension, which is already one of the lowest in the developed world. Pensioners are totally forgotten by the chancellor, as they were in the pandemic.

Helen Rowland

Harwich, Essex

A work gathering on the border with Ukraine

“Dial down the Cold War rhetoric” is our foreign secretary’s advice to Russia. But Russia’s rhetoric is that it is only conducting military exercises and has no intention of invading Ukraine.

Now that might be baloney and time, maybe soon, will tell. However, of all the strong directives the UK could give, this is particularly inane. Maybe Russia should say it is just having a work gathering.

Peter Smith-Cullen

Dunston, Norfolk

A crisis in our care system

I write in response to Jane Dalton’s article about full-time careworkers being at high risk of homelessness and how many are reliant on charity to pay their household bills.

I cannot be alone in thinking that the Department of Health and Social Care’s response was inadequate and lacking in understanding. Apparently, they ensure “the social care system is funded so that providers can pay the national minimum wage and national living wage to care workers”.

Where is the understanding that caring for the vulnerable requires skill, professionalism, hard work and kindness? Where is the recognition of the vital work done? Minimum wage? Would they do the job for that?

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

We have a crisis in the care system which must be dealt with if we are to call ourselves a decent and caring society. A well-funded care system that enables recruitment, training and retention of staff will not only benefit clients (our own loved ones), but enable staff to feel the recognition they deserve and stop them from becoming homeless or dependent on charity.

A career in care should be seen as a worthwhile professional aspiration. A well-run and efficient care system will also work more seamlessly with the NHS, providing follow-on care from acute hospital situations and freeing up beds.

I believe the bulk of the money promised to go to the NHS and care system by the government is to go to the NHS first, and any left after three years will go to the care system. Crumbs from the table. Is it any wonder that I, and many others, feel despair?

We must change this and put policies and plans into action to improve the system for the vulnerable people who need the care and the undervalued, dedicated staff who deserve better.

Yvette Kahane, retired nursing sister

Cockermouth, Cumbria