We should be more discerning about celebrating politicians just because of their identities

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I cried “Amen” when I read Kiran Sidhu’s article (Priti Patel has admirable traits, but it’s not enough to be a woman in power to get my vote, 3 September). The very idea of celebrating Priti Patel because she is Indian and female and has power is a complete no-no to me as well (although I only align with the female part).

I totally agree that being female in a prestigious post is not enough for the sisterhood to get out the bunting. First and foremost, said person has to earn this accolade and in my opinion, Patel does not deserve this prize.

Hopefully she has, as she stated, learnt important and valuable lessons from the Windrush scandal – but the jury is still out on that one. Her call for the navy to intervene with desperate migrants also, to me, smacked of playing to the gallery of people who have little empathy for these men, women and children.

Yes, by her own measure, she has achieved much, but until I witness a less intractable stance from her, I will not celebrate her either as a role model or a politician, regardless that she is a woman, even in such a male-dominated and divisive government.

Judith A Daniels
Address supplied

Disability benefits

The article on the £120m spent by the DWP (Government spends £120m in taxpayer money fighting disability benefit claims in two years, figures show) masks the real cost. On top of this are likely the millions spent by the Tribunals Service, and added costs to advice centres.

With around 75 per cent of appeals in sickness and disability benefits being won by the claimant, to the detriment of their financial, mental and physical health, you would think penalties should be applied to the contractors and decision-makers. In any job where your decisions are overturned, there has to be some sort of education process to improve the initial decision. Or am I wrong here?

Many don’t apply, or give up if refused, meaning disabled people run the risk of even poorer health. We need a mass benefit take-up campaign to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable. Or is that too simplistic?

Gary Martin
London E17

Local doctors for testing?

Having just read your piece on the ridiculous distances that people are being asked to travel just to get a simple coronavirus test, a thought popped into my head. Although I live in a rural area, my doctor’s surgery is still only three miles away. I go there for check-ups, blood tests, vaccinations, etc. Why isn’t it used to administer simple swab tests? They could then be sent to the nearest lab (Norwich 15 miles) for processing. If not, we have a community hospital just six miles from home.

Just a thought.....

John McVicar
Ilketshall St Margaret

Economic consequences of a viral panic

The extraordinary overreaction of so many governments which turned the Covid-19 pandemic into a viral panic may have produced a profound economic shift. My generation, born during the war, saw Keynesianism replaced by Friedman’s monetarism in the 1980s and central banks given independence in the 1990s.

The post-war challenge was to prevent depressions but in the sombre Seventies that was overtaken by the need to end stagflation. Today, we require a structural plan that allows the business cycle to be managed and financial crises to be fought without a politicised takeover of the economy. Good luck with that!

John Cameron
St Andrews

Je suis Charlie

I appreciated Munazzah Chou​’s letter (Letters, 2 September) in praise of the kindness and peacefulness of Islam. However, I think that Charlie Hebdo has a right to republish the cartoons because even if they are offensive, surely they are not as offensive as the murder of so many people?

Understanding is required on both sides. The terrorists who claim to murder on behalf of Islam are a minority, as are those who make cartoons of the Prophet. I know which I would rather be on the receiving end of, and I think that is the point that Charlie is trying to make. Je suis Charlie,

Eleanor Holloway
Address supplied