I'm a Tory but the country needs a strong Labour opposition to hold the government to account

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When I first voted, aged 21, I voted Labour. But that was 50 years ago. I have grown up since then and have voted Conservative ever since. However, I believe that an effective opposition is vital for the wellbeing of the country.

The Lords are an embarrassment and impotent to rein in excesses of government. The electorate does not have the opportunity to quickly bring the government to book either. So what are we left with? It can only be the country’s opposition – the Labour Party.

Of course, we had Mr Blair and Mr Brown in power for over a decade but as an opposition leader, I thought John Smith in 1992-1994 was an excellent opponent, one that made the Conservatives in power sit up and take notice.

Mr Smith, like Mr Starmer, was an advocate and even Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, was wary of him. With our current buffoon in post I am sure Mr Starmer will regularly have the better of Boris.

This will be amusing but the country needs an opposition to improve both statutory legislation that the government wants to develop and interpret events. The electorate needs clear and precise information which is paramount for our future so that we can make informed decisions for who to vote for at elections.

Roll on the next few years. I think it will be politically interesting but financially devastating especially for the younger population. Jobs will be hard to come by, employers will take advantage of potential workers, inflation may raise its ugly head, so unless we have balances and checks in place we will suffer from excesses.

Keith Poole
Basingstoke

True wealth lies in people

It’s very sad for all the people who work in retail who are going to lose their jobs. But human acquisitiveness is one of the causes of environmental damage, so would it not be a good thing if we bought less? We may want, but don’t need new clothes, new phones, new kitchens etc at frequent intervals; the old ones are, more often than not, serving perfectly well and don’t need to be consigned to landfill.

It will be argued that our national “wealth” is diminished if we trade less. But we forget that money is simply a means of exchange – you can’t eat it, wear it or live in it. As Covid-19 has been teaching us, our true wealth lies in people, and what we can do to help each other.

Surely the retail workers’ skills and talents could be deployed in services where they are greatly needed, such as care, health and education. And the hideously overpaid CEOs presumably have the nous to learn to manage on a mere five-figure sum.

Susan Alexander
Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire

Get a grip Boris

For goodness sake Boris, get a grip on schools reopening. Your government needs to be working with teachers and schools now to have a plan for September. The plan needs to cover all eventualities, whether its class sizes of 15 or 30, to get all children back in school

So please, please get on with it now before the end of this term. Teachers have been working tirelessly and sacrificing their own home lives for weeks and desperately need a break this summer.

Suzie Taylor
Address supplied

Fool Force One

I have a suggestion: why doesn’t Boris Johnson paint “Fool Force One” all bright red and write, “£350 million each week to the NHS” on the side? He and Dominic [Raab] could play captains sitting in the seats up front. Lesser mortals like what’s-his name-who-didn’t-know-where-”take the knee”-originated could go up back in steerage.

Andrew Webb
Burwell

Pandemic priority

Dealing with this pandemic should be the number one priority of this government, especially with so much regional and demographic inequality. The clear need for a stable economic recovery and focus on jobs in all regions is needed now more than ever.

What’s the point in levelling out ambitions of the government if the regions are so badly decimated by the economic crisis that will follow a no-deal Brexit that they are unable to recover? And of course, we could still have a second wave of the pandemic this winter.

Pausing the Brexit talks is the only sensible option and leaving the EU must be on terms that work for all British workers and their families.

Also, any trade deal with the US must uphold the high food standards we currently enjoy. Most of the population do not want chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed cattle. While the EU was not perfect, we at least had exceptionally high food and environmental standards, and of course the blue-flagged beaches we all so love and appreciate.

I love chicken like so many but will be no longer licking my fingers if this proposed trade deal with the US is signed and the government insists on a no-deal Brexit being better than anything else.

It’s time for great leadership and putting the interests of the nation first over party politics, so pause the talks now, protect jobs, save lives and save the NHS.

A no-deal Brexit on the 31 December will be the equivalent of a second wave of the pandemic and no one but no one wants that!

Is not the first role of a government the security of a nation? Then the second role must be the nation’s health and economic prosperity. On all three fronts the UK government is failing with a no-deal Brexit

Peter Benson
Bromley, London

Humility is a strength

I read Sarah Wollaston’s insightful column with interest and an inherent dismay, that this dire government has lost so many decent and sensible MPs such as Wollaston. The backbenches appear now to be stuffed with toadies, antediluvian Brexiteers and we have sadly lost the likes Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Dominic Grieve et al, who actually put their country and its future first before their own careers and parliamentary futures. I honestly couldn’t name any callow backbencher now as they all morph into one homogenous whole, shouting, “Would the prime minister agree with me”, and then utter some loyal banalities.

So when I saw her column – a doctor who actually knows her pandemic onions – my spirits lifted, and she is correct in many of her conclusions and statements. She is right too that a prime minister backed to the hilt by his cabinet, who will not admit hand on heart that this has not been their finest (more like fumbling) hour, needs to wise up that humility is not a sign of weakness but a much required form of self-awareness. It is a mature and logical stance to take, and then the country might again take heed and listen.

Judith A Daniels
Cobholm, Norfolk