Many Scots want independence. After 12 years of Tory rule, I can see their point

The Conservative Party has been in government for 12 years. At the last election, our undemocratic first past the post system allowed them a huge parliamentary majority.

They have permitted the deterioration of our NHS. Our treatment of asylum seekers is an international disgrace. Many working people can’t afford food, heating and necessary travel. The prime minister is a lying law-breaker but his replacement for the next two years is about to be selected by a tiny proportion of the electorate, in a choice between two people who have been prominent in his destructive government.

Our unwritten constitution is clearly not up to the task of protecting us all from self-serving leaders. The system is broken.

Many Scots want their country to leave the union. I would be very sad if that happened but I can see their point. I am now ashamed to be British. Perhaps they could be persuaded to stay if Scotland, and Northern Ireland and Wales, were to have equal status to a dozen or so English regional assemblies, comparable in size. Each could send representatives to a UK parliament, which could meet somewhere central, or possibly move between the four countries.

The palace of Westminster is in dire need of repair, as is its parliament. Why not turn the mended building into a museum and just ditch the parliament part?

Susan Alexander

South Gloucestershire

I see that not only are we beholden to a biased bunch of old, white and wealthy Conservative Party members to choose our next prime minister, it now appears that they can’t be arsed to wait to hear the full arguments of the two candidates before voting.

So we have an unrepresentative vote, an electorate too blinkered to even wait to consider the facts, and candidates vying with each other to appear more extreme. I despair.

Tim Sidaway

Hertfordshire

Writing that “the climate crisis doesn’t have to fill you with dread” Sunny Hundal sounded like the government minister of the 1950s who announced that nuclear power would be too cheap to metre.

Yes, the price of solar and wind energy is reducing and is cheaper than fossil fuelled generation, but a quick look at your electricity bill shows that the cost of generation is only part of the cost of having electrical power available. Another part is the essential transmission and distribution systems, which deliver energy to where it is needed.

In round terms, running an electric car may require energy equivalent to a small house, and running a heat pump to replace a gas heating system may well double a household’s consumption of electricity.

The investment to deliver that to our doorsteps has not been provided, and paying for it will not be cheap. In the meantime, the climate crisis should really fill us with dread as the world continues to burn fossil fuels as if there was no tomorrow, while the adverse effects become more apparent on a daily basis.

Peter Newbery

Bristol

The ex-chancellor’s plans for immigration show a measure of desperation, being clearly designed to appeal to the worst instincts and prejudices of the party faithful. Prejudices that have been carefully nurtured for decades by the “nasty party”, and which led to the Brexit vote.

Like Brexit, this extreme policy will further reduce the UK’s standing in the world and do little to make our country a happier place to live in.

How sad that, as the world burns, neither of the two contenders for the coveted premiership are addressing the most pressing crisis the world has ever faced. What an indictment of the quality of our current leaders that they are more interested in grabbing power for themselves than in working to improve the lives of people in this country and the rest of the world. We’re all doomed.

Lynda Newbery

Bristol

It is a desperate state of affairs when the Tory leadership contenders Truss and Sunak have to summon up the ghost of Thatcher.

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Going back to Margaret Thatcher only shows that the “nasty party” is still alive and well. Let the British public decide on the direction of the UK by having a general election.

Gordon Ronald

Radlett, Hertfordshire

Is the outgoing PM Johnson really allowed to produce an “honours” list?

The man resigned from his role, he was not defeated in an election. So what right has he to pack the House of Lords with cronies? Has he not inflicted enough damage on the country?

Marilyn Timney

Liss, Hampshire