It’s time to accept that Boris Johnson will not budge – he has to be removed

It’s time for the Tories to accept that the Pinocchio prime minister is never going to turn into a real boy.

The saying goes – you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Boris Johnson has done the opposite, turning the prestigious and important democratic office of prime minister into a donkey derby. And while he is the one wearing the ass’s ears, Britain is left stinking in the piles he leaves wherever he goes.

He will not budge. He has to be removed.

Amanda Baker

Edinburgh

I read Alastair Campbell’s column (“If Raab is heartbroken over child poverty, why isn’t he doing anything about it” on 2 June) with interest and agreement, because somehow Dominic Raab’s finely tuned and, yes, empathetic words do not always match the actions of himself or the government.

He is right: there is a disconnect with the men, women and children who are at the sharp end of this cost of living crisis, and of course politicians like Raab do realise that this country is still an unequal and divided country – but do not have the real driving impetus to right these inherent wrongs. They tinker around the edges, finally appreciate at the 11th hour that the economy has to be readjusted to deal with the financial implosion. But this government has always had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point – and often because background issues are resonating very strongly.

I am pleased that Campbell’s podcast partner is Rory Stewart because I always rated him as a decent, one-nation Conservative – but he is probably gratified that he is now out of this present cabal of populist Conservative ministers and politicians, who play to the noise and fury and not the tragic heartbreak of this country’s present troubles.

Sincerely,

Judith A Daniels

Great Yarmouth

Kate Forbes announces massive spending cuts for many sectors of Scottish economic and social life. Her taxation policy has brought in less money than she anticipated. Nicola Sturgeon blames Westminster for these cuts, which will particularly hurt local authorities. Standard reflex. It does not occur to her that spending a lot more than you earn is an incompetent way to run an administration. What would normally happen to a government that raised taxes, received less revenue from these taxes and then cut spending radically?

Jill Stephenson

Edinburgh

Paul Morrison poses the question: “Is there no viable alternative to Boris Johnson to take over as PM?” (letters Wednesday). The answer is probably yes, but they remain on the back benches. When an incompetent like Johnson by some quirk of fate becomes leader, his first action is to appoint people who are even more clueless to his cabinet. This has a number of advantages.

The first is that the PM shines in comparison to his ministers. Secondly, they are unlikely to pose any threat to his position and will willingly support anything he proposes. Thirdly, they know that if the PM falls, they fall with him and any newly appointed PM is unlikely to offer them any ministerial post whatsoever. It is therefore to their advantage to give unquestioning support to the PM.

The shambles is encapsulated in the Peter principle – in any organisation people rise to their own level of incompetence. This results in the organisation staggering along at sub-optimal effectiveness – but just managing to survive.

Patrick Cleary

Gloucestershire

While there are clearly a range of drawbacks to being led by Boris, it should be remembered that he is thought of with gratitude by the people of Ukraine (and I have personal experience of this). This is not to say that he ought to go and stand against Mr Zelensky in Kiev, but it does suggest that the UK electorate should get a chance to deliver a judgement on the current government, warts and all.

Cole Davis

Norwich

The political direction of this country has been much influenced by the Conservatives for decades. The Blair years perhaps brought us some moderation, but they too were less than perfect, and world events conspired to bring that era to an end.

Since then, the major influence has been the austerity of Tory policies and the slow but unremitting erosion of almost every pillar of our society. The recent article by Vince Cable confirmed the suspicion held by many that you cannot expect to hear the truth from our politicians, at least not whilst they aspire to hold power. To me that revelation, although unfortunately not surprising, has received surprisingly little reaction. Whether that is because we are now firmly convinced that politicians will routinely lie, I do not know. However, it demonstrates that it is now acceptable. Politicians, certainly the most promoted ones, have adopted a policy of telling us what they think we want to hear, or simply saying what suits them – as with Boris Johnson – whilst they then do what they wish or are told to do. On every matter of importance – from the threat to our survival presented by the climate crisis, to levelling-up disadvantaged communities – we are spun wish lists; while they conspire to cut yet more budgets and further degrade the lives of the many to enrich their wealthy lobbyists and self-interest.

We are now in the position where the police are both distrusted and incompetent; our logistics industry, vital to everyday food and other basic needs, is teetering on the brink of collapse; the NHS has effectively failed and is in the ICU with a poor prognosis; the people responsible for education have not learnt the lessons of past mistakes, nor do they have the intelligence to see the disastrous effects of cuts and the failure to invest in our learning and development; our inability to manufacture anything of day-to-day importance, and reliance on imports from the EU and China in the main, has left us weak and unable to respond to world crisis in anything but a token manner.

All that and more leaves us all exposed to shortages and rampant inflation. The list goes on and on; not a single area of central and local government is unaffected by cuts that have drastically reduced our quality of life. The P&O debacle and the lack of meaningful action on the causes and effects of the Grenfell disaster merely demonstrate how weak our leadership is, and that it now permeates the private sector, who brazenly tells us how impervious to law or decency they are.

Personally, I have gone from being a reliable Tory voter to joining the Lib Dems, and now hoping that Keir Starmer and his team can bring some decency and honesty back to our politics. World events have shown us time and again that collaboration and cooperation to improve the lives of the many is the best way to fight pandemics and dictators, and protect peaceful trade and industry along with the environment. Independence and a sensible degree of self-sufficiency are also important and contribute to preserving the rich tapestry of global culture. The reaction of Europe (which includes the UK) and the USA to events in Ukraine has buoyed my hopes that things can improve and the downward spiral of selfish, mean, and aggressive politics can be reversed. Putin, Xi, and others of their ilk are the threats we must work to mitigate and hope to convert.

Whatever happens to Johnson, this country must tell the politicians at the ballot box that their current practices are unacceptable and we want truth, hard work, and kindness to predominate. The false promises of Brexit are now hurting us in many ways – not least those who voted for control of our borders and laws now seeing that hard independence has hard consequences on their lives and livelihoods. “Buy British, think global” should be the policy going forwards – neither being xenophobic or selfish, but built upon international cooperation and self-sufficiency whilst contributing to global harmony. We don’t need to turn any clocks back, or throw money at any policy or institution. We simply must demand everyone of working age to be well-educated, nurtured, and a contributor to the best of their natural ability. Good is not a poor compromise, excellence is to be aspired to.

Michael Mann

Shrewsbury