Sunak is showing us exactly what sort of leader he is

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The prime minister had the opportunity to make a stand against the lies and corruption that have dogged his party for so long, and he didn’t (PA Wire)

Am I sickened and dismayed that Rishi Sunak is likely to have no say in today’s vote on the integrity of Boris Johnson?

Or am I resigned to the fact that this government has no backbone and no sense of morality?

Both! The prime minister would have the opportunity today to back the parliamentary committee’s report and make a stand against the lies and corruption that have dogged the party for so long. Instead, it looks as if he will pander to the dinosaurs and fanatics on the right to try and hold a sinking ship together. Once more ignoring the more important job of restoring integrity and honesty.

Anything but a resounding vote against Boris Johnson will give his pathetic cronies and himself the opportunity of resurrection. Although I railed against Keir Starmer kicking Jeremy Corbyn out of the Labour Party, at least he showed a strong will, even if I felt it totally unjust.

Rishi Sunak’s inability to make a decision shows us exactly what sort of leader he is. Weak and ineffectual.

Dave Law

Address Supplied

Political publicity

Recently Nicola Sturgeon popped up outside her home again to plead for privacy. Really?

Then why, on several occasions, has she appeared before ranks of journalists not to discuss the case she can’t discuss? Why has she attracted massive attention by issuing, on multiple social media platforms, lengthy protestations of her own innocence?

It’s ironic in my opinion as not so long ago, this was a politician who seemingly craved publicity. Who appeared to self-aggrandise her first ministerial role into a presidential one – all while posing for selfies with pretty much anyone at the drop of a hat?

Is Sturgeon perhaps discovering it’s not so easy to control her own image in the media after all?

Martin Redfern

Roxburghshire

Again and again, this government shames the nation

During the last 40 years or so there has been a slew of initiatives by the UK government to improve the treatment and care of young people with mental health and learning disabilities with the intention that no child would have to be admitted to a long-stay institution.

The country was promised better, more humane community care in the wake of scandal-afflicted NHS long-stay hospitals closing. Among the undoubted improvements, however, have emerged some private hospitals that have seemingly inherited some appalling practices perpetrated in the so-called asylums.

Each ensuing inquiry highlights the same issues: poorly trained staff, low morale with poor pay and conditions of service leading to high staff turnover, and under-resourced facilities with poor funding. And yet this shameful catalogue of failure generates huge profits for those individuals who regard such operations as an investment opportunity underwritten by the taxpayer.

Is it possible that adequate funding is available but this government prefers to reward its friends and supporters in the same way PPE contracts were awarded during the pandemic, rather than provide decent services? This is a disgrace and shames the nation. Again and again!

David Smith

Taunton

We were never at the heart of Europe

Michael Heseltine does a grand job of reiterating all the usual baffling tropes and myths surrounding our decision to leave the EU in his recent Voices feature. He’s right, our pitiful attempts to build trading relationships with that “big ol’ world” out there are a root cause of our failure to benefit from the Brexit premium and while he may believe contritely scuttling back into the bosom of the EU is the only option, I suggest we still haven’t actually asked them if they’re prepared to consider it yet!

Heseltine envisages us returning to "recreate our position at the centre of Europe" and while such hyperbole may well appeal to some, my recollections remain of a very sticky relationship with a bureaucracy with whom we fought daily while eschewing their Euro, their Schengen “free movement” agreement and their laughable regulations.

We were never at the heart of Europe and just sniped from the sidelines. Even if they deigned to have us back there’s still the issue of a political will and the need for yet another referendum to whine about afterwards.

Steve Mackinder

Denver