We may not be racists, but we are becoming callously indifferent

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

Recent scandals generally all point to deep-seated institutional racism (Reuters)

The plight of the “betrayed” child refugees you report on, the appalling treatment of the Windrush generation and the “hostile environment” towards immigrants more generally all point to deep seated institutional racism in the Home Office.

This clearly doesn’t mean that all those who work in the Home Office are necessarily racists. The individuals who worked in South Africa’s Department of the Interior under apartheid weren’t necessarily racists either, but that would certainly have helped them to cultivate the callous indifference to suffering that enabled them to do their jobs.

D Maughan Brown
York

BoJo has no political get-go

The problem we have with Boris Johnson is that his apparently engaging personality is constantly being mistaken for political talent – of which he is in short supply. The same applies to Nigel Farage, Donald Trump and George W Bush before him. They are all part of and have been part of a right wing, Conservative or Republican formula that is always aimed at retaining the privileges of white, wealthy and divisive members of society. What has happened to the responsibility and duty of politicians to look after all members of society? In Boris’s case, he has repulsive backbenchers winding him up, hiding behind him as their figurehead and certain newspapers telling him he can do no wrong. It’s all likely to end in tears, I’m just not sure how many will suffer in the meantime.

Trevor Swann​
Address supplied

Hammond, if we could get into shops we would buy stuff

Philip Hammond’s proposal for an “Amazon Tax” is a classic example of the badly thought out, kneejerk policies that are killing this country.

Many of the high street businesses (M&S, John Lewis, Curry’s, Argos etc) are only currently kept afloat by their online sales presence, and to tax those sales will destroy them! Meanwhile, purely online businesses like Amazon are big enough to ride the storm and will become even more powerful.

To save the high streets, LET THE SHOPPERS BACK INTO THEM. The big problem with many is lack of adequate free parking, poorly thought out “traffic management”, “pedestrianisation” and inadequate expensive public transport which goes to a “bus station” instead of actually along the high street, making it difficult for shoppers, and almost impossible for elderly and disabled people to reach the shops. Why struggle to reach town centres then pay huge sums to park or ride when out-of-town retail parks have ample free parking and online stores deliver, often free?

Large companies will always “minimise” their tax bills, which is immoral, but it is not that which is killing the high street – it is planning blight.

Ian McNicholas
Waun-Lwyd, Ebbw Vale

Climate change warriors

Does Mary Dejevsky really not understand that we won’t just get long spells of hot dry weather, but that there is also an increased chance of long spells of extreme cold, severe storms and flooding?

Her disregard for the rest of the planet is astonishing too. Yes, she has a few caveats about how it might be a bit unpleasant for some other countries, but as long as we’re OK, well, that’s just one of those things. More and more we are an interconnected planet; climate change is an existential threat to us all.

Janice Hoare
Address supplied

Mary Dejevsky forgot to add another benefit of climate change that we Brits can look forward to. For those of us living in the middle of the country, we won’t have to travel so far to get to the seaside.

Ian Robertson
Milton Keynes

Someone’s telling porkies

I noticed with some interest that Liam Fox, the pro-Brexit international trade secretary, took credit for Taiwan opening its market to British pork for the first time – an agreement expected to be worth more than £50m to UK farmers over the next five years.

I found this news rather intriguing, as at no point did Fox mention the European Union, which in fact brokered the agreement, an agreement which could be at risk when the UK leaves the EU.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

Remember the great people who led to the will of the people

According to a YouGov survey, 50 per cent believe the public should take the final decision on leaving, with 25 per cent wanting to give parliament the ultimate decision. Remainers would win a fresh vote by 53 per cent to 47 per cent in a new vote, if the “don't know” voters are not there. This sounds like a victory is assured for the Leavers, but look again – only around 10,000 voters were numbered in the online poll. A total of 17,410,742 voted to Leave as they were legally entitled to do, as this was brought about by the efforts of two very brave men – both dead now – Sir James Goldsmith and Lord Tonypandy, a speaker at one time in the House of Commons. Together they founded the Referendum Party with one aim: to bring democracy and freedom back to the British people.

Jean Ablett
Teignmouth