Boris Johnson is the wrong man at the wrong time for the country I love

I share Tom Peck’s anguish about the inevitable march to victory of a man who even long-time conservative commentators regard as an idle, incompetent, lying charlatan.

Boris Johnson will be chosen by a small group of overwhelmingly middle-aged white men to be prime minister of a country of 66 million people, who are bitterly divided and suffering intractable social and economic problems.

And the danger is that the next few weeks will all be about “Boris”, a totally manufactured character, and not about these problems. We are almost certainly heading for a no-deal Brexit because both Johnson’s and Hunt’s strategy is to bully 27 other sovereign countries into breaking their red lines and act against their best interests.

The chance of this succeeding is zero: you only have to ask how we would react if, in a hypothetical situation, France were Frexiting and we were part of the 27 other sovereign nations.

Would we give in to bullying? I doubt it. So why would any other government? I think this means the 27 other countries will now cut us loose in October – and forget politicians gabbling about Gatt 24 (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), which won’t apply and covers only 20 per cent of our trade in any case.

Which brings us to the key question: what next? Will Johnson come up with any credible policies over the next four weeks that deal with these problems in the event of a no deal that will, based on every credible analysis, cause major economic pain and have devastating impacts on manufacturing and agriculture? No is the simple answer. He is the wrong man at the wrong time for our country and I fear for the future, to quote Theresa May, of the country I love.

John Murray
Bracknell, Berkshire​

My life was just saved by a woman wearing a niqab. I don’t know what Johnson’s current term is for such people, but I called her “Doctor” and she and the rest of that wonderfully multicultural haematology team at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital have my everlasting gratitude.

Martin Ouldridge​
Exeter, Devon

So Boris Johnson is, as expected, one of the final two contenders for Conservative Party leader and prime minister.

If party members are short-sighted enough to vote into high office a man who was a poor foreign secretary, who asserts confidently that he didn’t say what we’ve just heard with our own ears, and who has survived in the campaign by hiding from scrutiny, then they ring the death knell for the Conservative Party.

Arthur Streatfield​
Bath

The assertion that “no deal must remain on the table” as it is a “necessary tool” in the negotiations is based on a fallacy or misconception. It may be true in a business deal where two parties look to make a deal from which both could benefit and where both have nothing to lose beyond the resources used during the negotiations. “Heads, I win; tails, I walk away.”

However, the UK is not in that position. Its current position is that it can negotiate to try to keep things as close as possible to how they are now or possibly lose everything. “Heads, I stay the same; tails, I could lose everything.”

Anyone who says that no deal is an option is either a crook or a fool. I think this disqualifies all the current Tory leadership candidates from office.

Steff Watkins
London

We, the undersigned, women human rights defenders from around the world, are deeply concerned about the life and well-being of Pakistani woman human rights defender Gulalai Ismail.

Gulalai Ismail is an award-winning Pakistani human rights defender, co-founder and Chairperson of Aware Girls, and Chairperson of the Youth Peace Network. She has been recognised in Pakistan and around the world for her work on women’s rights, promoting peace and countering and preventing violent extremism especially in the rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area in north-west Pakistan.

In May 2019, police complaints were brought against Gulalai Ismail for allegedly inciting hatred and enmity, defamation and sedition, following a speech she gave at a rally in Islamabad, against the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl. On 15 May 2019, the minor girl went missing near her home in Islamabad, and her body was found in a forest on 21 May, leading to public outrage and protest. Gulalai has been vocal in her criticism of the lack of justice in the child’s rape and killing. Following her speech, two First Information Reports (FIR) were filed against Gulalai under section 500 (punishment for defamation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 124-A for Sedition as well as section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

We are deeply concerned that Gulalai may also face charges under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. These complaints against Gulalai Ismail cannot be taken lightly, as she may face long periods of detention. We believe the complaints are merely a tool to silence a woman human rights defender and an outspoken advocate to end violence against women and girls in Pakistan.

We call on the Pakistani government and the Pakistani military authorities to ensure the police complaints and the charges against Gulalai Ismail are dropped immediately and that measures are taken to protect her and her family from harassment and threats on her life.

We also strongly call on the international community and the member states of the UN Human Rights Council to ensure the safety of Gulalai Ismail and for the persecution and threats against her in Pakistan to end.

Gulalai has been a beacon of hope to many women, girls and youth in her community, whose voices could not be heard. She is a brave voice whose work any country and the world should be proud of.

In 2013, the United Nations passed the first ever resolution No 68/181 that called for protection of women human rights defenders. At a time when 321 human rights defenders from around the world were killed in 2018 due to their work for peace and justice, we urgently call on governments to ensure the safety and protection of women human rights defenders, before more lives are lost.

#WeStandWithGulalai #protectgulalai #protectWHRDs

In solidarity and strength,

Saba Ismail, Aware Girls
Mariana Katzarova, Reach All Women in War
Binalakshmi Nepram, Northeast India Women Initiative for Peace
Salma Ismail; Noreen Faryal Qaisar; Jaana Rehnstrom; The Kota Alliance

This letter is open to signatures from women human rights defenders, human rights organisations and individuals from around the world. Only in two days, it has already been signed by more than 100 renowned civil society organisations, human rights defenders and academics from around the globe, adding their voices to #ProtectGulalai and #RefusingToBeSilenced.​

Contact: ProtectGulalai@Gmail.com / AwareGirls.AG@Gmail.com

Regarding your article which reports that working a 10-hour day once a week increases your chance of having a stroke by a third, for information, nurses at the local general hospital work 12-hour shifts. It saves on handover time. The financial argument wins every time.

Ann Smith
Southport, Merseyside