We should be terrified about the rise of the far-right in Sweden

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The seemingly inexorable spread of far-right ideology across Europe has mostly been a mere distraction for members of the public who at least show some interest in politics.

Hungary is considered far away and different from the west, and Austria and Denmark made some people’s ears prick up, but not much else. Then Italy voted in some ultra right wingers – but again, the attitude of “after all Mussolini did get the trains running on time” started to surface (it probably did not actually happen).

But now, one of the bastions of fairness, openness and progress have somehow given considerable backing to the far right. The Swedish Democrats – bit of an oxymoronic name – have apparently got enough support to, just maybe, have some leverage on the future direction of said country.

What baffles me is how a well educated country with good welfare benefits and general all-round tolerance can veer so far to the right. In the UK we have jettisoned lots of people at the bottom of the ladder, so they are easy to recruit – not so for Sweden!

If the new government, when or if it is formed, cut taxes and cut benefits, it can only lead to more disgruntled or even angry citizens flocking to join the far right. We should be worried... very worried.

Robert Boston
Kingshill, Kent

Theresa May, there’s no shame in changing your mind

As individuals, one of the reasons that we make bad decisions is because we have a deep rooted but not often discussed bias in our society against changing our minds. Changing one’s mind is often confused with indecision, yet in fact they are very different: indecision is just that, indecision, whereas the ability to change one’s mind when a course of action is no longer in a person’s, company’s or country’s best interests is often an essential prerequisite to a good decision being made.

Theresa May, as a citizen of this country who cares deeply about the future prosperity of my city, my country and the lives of myself and my two small children, I beg you – please change your mind.

Do the brave thing, which is also the right thing, and find a way to re-examine whether we are really committed to walking handcuffed and blindfolded down the road of leaving the European Union. Brexit was a decision made over two years ago, in rosier climes, and on the basis of now widely accepted false information. With the collapse of the Chequers plan (itself an unhappy compromise wanted by no party or faction), the Brexit decision is revealing itself for what it is actually is: a financial, economic and social catastrophe for our country, the likes which no generation has endured since the Second World War.

Yet our decision to leave the EU can be evaluated and indeed, now that the end game has become so much clearer, Ms May, as our representative and leader, you owe us a duty to let us re-evaluate it. If we let go of the collective ego associated with the change of mind this would entail, then you will be liberated from the suffocating pressure of a bad decision that in a few more months will be irreversible. You are about to determine the destiny of this country; you have the power to make that destiny great again and to be remembered as the leader who saved our country, rather than the one who failed to stop it’s destruction.

We are always free to choose a different future – please help us choose a better one.

Michelle Kingsley
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Rules should be challenged if they are wrong

The letter headline – “Rules are rules, and Serena Williams should take responsibility for her team’s failure to follow them“ is wrong, on the grounds that: 1) The editor has made the false presumption that either the umpire/judge can never do wrong, or

2) Williams (a metaphor for successful non-whites or female persons) should know their place and not protest or fight injustice, even if the rules are wrong, or the culture in our society has changed. If that was true, non-whites would still be slaves on white colonial plantations and mines, or non-Christians (like Jews) would be freely persecuted by white supremacists. In short, you deny Williams (and by extension, non-whites or females) their basic human right of a “fair trial” with an impartial judge/tribunal; contrary to article six of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sayed Sangamneheri
Address supplied

Kaepernick was right about white police officers

A few days ago, an off-duty Dallas police officer shot and killed a black man inside his home. The victim was unarmed and the female white officer said in a call to 911 that she entered his apartment after she mistook it for her own.

If it was anyone else (who wasn’t a cop) they would already be in jail on a murder charge. After all, Nike spokesperson Colin Kaepernick was right about white police officers gunning down black men on the streets of America with impunity.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Westerville, Ohio

It’s time for Bo-Jo to go

Eton mess personified – Boris Johnson is often touted as the UK’s Trump – minus the razzmatazz. It’s more accurate to equate him with Corbyn. Anyone with even a vague grasp of what Britain needs right now rejects the blond blob with every ounce of their commonsense. However, just like Corbyn, he has a rabid army of devotees who worship the very thing Johnson is also mesmerised by: himself. The clarion call of the Boris believers: “Oh joy, someone who legitimises our previously unacceptable xenophobia.”

Let’s see if the Tory machine can do what the wheezing, grinding, Labour Party engine failed to do when it comes to protecting themselves from the cult of personality (introduced into Britain by Thatcher, ironically) and oblivion.

Brexit was – we were told – all about reclaiming Britain’s borders (that would be the Britain that has been systematically sold off to the rest of the world mainly by the Tories). Boris Johnson is a man with no moral or political borders or boundaries, he exists only in the universe of Boris.

Amanda Baker
Edinburgh

Profiling stops crime

Any police force will be properly criticised if it cannot control street crime and related offences like burglary and vandalism. One of the most effective tools for this control is stop and search. Not random, but targeted. And to be effective, it must be based on statistics. And the statistics must include the obvious: time, day of the week, place, victim type and, most importantly, culprit type, which must include age, sex and appearance. Put simply, if green teenage males are predominantly responsible for muggings, then the police must be able to target green teenage males for, firstly, stop and question and then, if necessary, search.

Guy Shirra
Sai Kung, Hong Kong

The BBC and relying on public money

I am struck by Amanda Baker’s letter (Why is Everyone Jumping Ship at the BBC?) when she says that the BBC “floats on a sea of public money”. This is a fallacy I often see when people are on a flight of rhetoric against the BBC. Actually, the BBC floats on a sea of licence fee payers’ money. I am not sure that licence fee payers’ money is any more public than the £7.99 a month I pay to Netflix.

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