A maelstrom of Tory sleaze in just 48 hours

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Conservative Scott Benton was caught in a lobbying sting in March last year (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament)

So, in just 48 hours, we have seen four more examples of Tory sleaze strangling this government.

First, we had Scott Benton finally resigning his seat, leaving the Blackpool South by-election to clash with the other local elections. Second, we had the story regarding Steve Barclay and the waste project in his Cambridgeshire constituency. Third, it emerged that the current energy secretary Claire Coutinho queried the approval of the waste project linked with Barclay.

And then, finally, we had Michael Gove of all people failing to declare free football tickets.

Surely, it is now crystal clear that this sleaze-ridden government is now just as bad as, if not worse than, the John Major regime of 1990 to 1997. Whilst Labour has changed for the better under Keir Starmer, what we have is the same old Tories looking after their own interests at the expense of the rest of us.

Geoffrey Brooking

Hampshire

Value in a world of soundbites

It was heartening to read the director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, restating the role, purpose and values of the corporation.

His commitment to reporting “fearlessly and fairly” without bias, nurturing groundbreaking creativity and bringing people together with a shared narrative, is a refreshing and welcome alternative to the usual pursuit of market forces. It is the worship of market forces by successive governments that has opened the door to biased, shallow and sensationalist reporting of the news, the dumbing down of the creative arts, and the splintering of communal experiences.

It is to be hoped that Davie’s commitment marks the beginnings of a shift back towards a society that is driven by common values rather than the pursuit of self-centred, short-term distractions and indulgences that drive us apart rather than bring us together. We are still living in a world of soundbites, and so the values espoused by Davie are yet to be reclaimed.

Graham Powell

Cirencester

Wake up America

Weeks of shuttle diplomacy by Antony Blinken have attracted mass media attention, but Israel’s brutal decimation of Gaza continues unabated – with no likelihood of any cessation, partial or otherwise. So-called peace talks continue in Doha, with Israel’s participation, as and when it suits them. An impotent US government, which is ignored and humiliated by Benjamin Netanyahu, still funds and arms the Israeli occupying forces.

The world can see the charades being played out. The US is being played by Israel, who think they hold all the cards.

Wake up America and take back the cards. We can see the endgame, why can’t you?

David Hill

Waterlooville

Perhaps the royals would be happier without the monarchy

Each year, nearly 400,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer. That one of them is a woman in her early forties with young children is sad, but by no means unique. For this event to take precedence over the situation in Gaza is deplorable but not astonishing.

Surely, with such an invasion of privacy and public scrutiny, even the holders of royal titles would be happier if the institution were abolished altogether?

Bill Bradbury

Bolton