With Boris Johnson as a role model for young men, no wonder chauvinistic characteristics persevere

As society struggles to bring about a much-needed shift in masculine attitudes to, and seeming lack of respect for, its female members, one has to wonder how we would view our prime minister’s reported extramarital affairs, as reported by Tom Peck, if he was a member of the opposite sex? Our language has a number of terms for such masculine philanderers, such as “Jack the Lad” or “alpha male”, but a serially unfaithful woman gets no such gentle treatment, but rather earns a truly derogatory tag such as “slut” or “tart”.

When the nation’s young men have a role model such as Boris Johnson as the leader of the country, is it any wonder that dangerously chauvinistic characteristics persevere?

Leo Thomas Manchester

Where is the backbone and fighting spirit of our government?

The EU is being a big bully because we left and they are being more than a little unpleasant by creating a huge amount of bureaucracy. Until 1 December they happily fished in our waters, now our seas are contaminated.

They will not import our cream buns without a vets certificate. There are many other examples where the EU is just being plain awkward.

The best way to beat a bully is to hit back harder than he is hitting you. Why are we not putting huge taxes on their wines and cheeses?


Why is Boris Johnson not ringing up those in charge of the EU and saying, if you do not want our cream buns, crabs and other items, we do not want your wines and cheeses?

Mrs Thatcher would have been on the telephone and banned their products before you could say EU.

Where are our politicians with some get-up-and-go?


In this modern world, with its egotistic and ambitious politicians, a strong hand is definitely required.

Colin Bower
 Nottingham

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My sense that the Clapham Common vigil was brutally and inappropriately handled was quite a visceral response. Then my partner, who is into football, reminded me just how differently the police handled large groups of male Rangers fans after a football win a few weeks ago – very light touch. Both have been deemed appropriate.

The excuses and petty fiddling with detail by the police inquiry team cannot hide the fact that both cannot have been correctly handled. The only difference seems to have been the kinder attitude shown to football supporters as opposed to women grieving for another murdered woman ... women who had made every effort to have the vigil properly organised – unlike the fans.

This is the way authoritarian regimes are and, make no mistake, that is the direction of travel for the UK under our populist PM, following the all-out jingoism and xenophobic elements of Brexit and the Covid deaths misted over now with the thin optimism of Johnson’s “greed and capitalism” vaccine programme.

The only difference here is that one was a group of men and the other was a group of women.

Houston – we have a problem.

Amanda Baker Edinburgh

It has long been well-known that Alex Salmond is a gambler. He was even, I believe, a racing tipster for a newspaper at one time. It was obvious to anyone of intelligence that in 2014 he was betting the farm on a false prospectus, full of pie-in-the-sky extravagant promises that could not be met.

The SNP more or less admits now that the White Paper of 2013 was unrealistic and Ms Sturgeon tells us that Salmond “makes big claims which often don’t stand up to scrutiny”. Like “guaranteeing” in 2014 that the royal navy would build warships on the Clyde in an “independent Scotland”, after former defence secretary Philip Hammond said that would be impossible. Or claiming that George Osborne and Ed Balls were bluffing when they said that an independent Scotland could not have a currency union with the UK.

Perhaps there is a record somewhere of Ms Sturgeon’s disagreement with Salmond on issues such as these. My memory of 2014 is, however, that Nicola Sturgeon endorsed Alex Salmond and everything he said in public to try to delude Scots into making the most damaging decision of their lives: leaving the UK. She continues to campaign for that cause, now without so much as a prospectus. Salmond is a busted flush, but Ms Sturgeon continues to gamble with our future in pretty much the same way as he did. Voters need to be aware of that in May.

Jill Stephenson Edinburgh