Is this really the new Conservative ‘middle ground’?

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

Tom Tugendhat was the second senior Tory to announce a leadership bid (PA)

If Tom Tugendhat is considered a “moderate” in the Tory party leadership contest, but still thinks that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a good thing to do, then God help us all if the Tories get back into government.

Given that Russia and Belarus are the only countries not members of the ECHR, this is not company which the UK should aspire to when it comes to human rights.

The ECHR’s rules and rulings are being used by the Tories as a scapegoat for years of mismanagement of immigration – leaving it will not solve the root cause of the problem. The civilised protections offered by the court should be cherished by all of us who value the basic rights which we often take for granted.

We need honesty from our leaders and potential future leaders about the right place for the UK in the 21st century. Leaving the ECHR should not be part of it.

Charles Wood

Birmingham

Austerity is a threat, not a remedy

There can be no such thing as a “black hole in government finances”.

This nonsense is a product of the myth that government finances are just like private finances. There is nearly always a difference between tax income and government expenditure.

But the difference, ignorantly (or maliciously) called “debt” or “deficit”, is no such thing. It is simply the money paid into the economy that funds growth – the growth that every government cites as a target is impossible unless more money is put into the economy than tax income.

If every government had actually kept expenditure at the same level of tax (held by this myth as economic rectitude) the UK would have long ago become an economic basket case.

About £800bn was paid into the economy by the Bank of England to pay for the financial crash and Covid crises. None of this came from tax or borrowing. It was created with a stroke of a pen by the BoE. This “financial recklessness” saved the country and didn’t even show up as “debt”.

Mainstream economists, politicians, certain sections of the media and the public urgently need to learn the simple facts of money supply. It’s not rocket science and it would prevent politicians and the rest talking nonsense about “black holes”; “frightening national debt” – and then, even worse – claiming the need for austerity, which as the last 14 years have shown, is a real and present threat to the economy, not a remedy.

Andrew McLauchlin

Stratford upon Avon

Wild west gun control

Kate Elisco raised some cogent arguments in her letter to The Independent, about gun ownership in the United States. Frankly, no-one can properly correlate the challenges faced by the nascent US Republic in the 18th century with the social conditions of the 21st.

The fact that the United States constitution (with respect to gun control) has not evolved to take into account modern needs, strongly suggests America – for all its technological progress – is firmly wedged in a violent and chaotic past.

The stipulation that attendees at the RNC rally should leave their guns at the entrance is more reminiscent of the Wild West than a modern democratic state. Perhaps a more accurate interpretation of “the right to bear arms” should reflect the weapons of the day when the amendment was passed into law, since it has never been further amended. The right to bear flintlock muskets and pistols only?

David Smith

Taunton

Stop punishing children

I do hope the chancellor can quickly find the money needed to do away with the two-child benefit cap. 

Telling children living in poverty to wait in line while other priorities are dealt with while a review is commissioned and a report written, is really not a good look. Several charities and organisations have said that as well as immediately lifting thousands of children out of poverty, lifting the cap now would save money in the medium and long term – reducing demand on the NHS, being one example.

If the opportunity to vote again arises, what would those Labour MPs who abstained this time do if they believe things aren’t moving fast enough – abstain again? Defy a whip? How many more independent members would we see? Parents have family responsibilities, but punishing children should never be allowed. Children can’t wait.

Dave Thomas

Bristol

Vance vision

It seems that some in the “land of the free” feel free to show prejudice against others they see as different and inferior, even though everyone is equal by law.

Generally, these prejudices are based on race, religion or social status – but possible US vice-president JD Vance has added one more category: “Childless cat ladies.”

Not having children may be a deliberate choice, a lack of opportunity, or due to medical concerns, but it doesn’t make someone a bad person. Nor does it make it any of Vance’s business.

No matter his personal beliefs, leaders – or potential leaders – should treat all people as equals in word, action and law.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne