We should swap our current government for the England football team

I know very little about football, but I do know a decent man when I see one.

Gareth Southgate is the opposite of previous England managers. He is articulate, modest, smartly-dressed and doesn’t chew gum. He is passionate about his sport, knowledgeable through first-hand experience and brings out the best in his young team through nurture and encouragement rather than bullying. Whatever happens in the World Cup, we have seen teamwork and leadership of which England can be proud.

What a pity Gareth isn’t available to inspire certain squabbling, back-stabbing, egotistical, shambolic and ill-mannered MPs.

Sue Breadner Isle of Man

Perhaps Gareth Southgate or Harry Kane would consider a job at Whitehall after the World Cup since they appear to be the only people that can be trusted to deliver satisfactory results when over in Europe?

Mark Boyle Renfrewshire

I’m tired of all sides in the Brexit debate making up their own self-serving versions of why a majority voted for it. The only question was “should we leave the EU?” We weren’t asked why. Many people – like me – voted to leave because we joined a common market and not a political union.

We were sick of being lied to since the 1970s by politicians of all the main parties who told us not to worry our pretty little heads about sovereignty.

We were also lied to by both sides during the referendum campaign. We knew that leaving would not be painless, nor would we immediately save vast sums of money – but we also disbelieved George Osborne’s threat that a vote to leave would necessitate an immediate draconian emergency budget.

Most of us, I believe, still want a common market with Europe. We know that that means aligning much of our commercial policy with Europe. If you want to sell to other countries, what you’re selling has to comply with their standards (and vice-versa). The idea of a complete break with Europe is a pipe-dream of a few die-hard “Little Englanders”.

What the cabinet is proposing is a realistic future relationship. I only hope that the main EU governments are sensible enough to see that, and overrule their chief negotiator, who still seems intent on making the UK suffer for its temerity in voting to leave, even if that means a lose-lose outcome for both sides.

Michael Clarke Portishead

David Davis’s resignation is a real pity. At least he is a man of integrity unlike Remainer MPs who ignore the referendum, or at best believe they can interpret it to their own ideas.

The Brexiteers are held up as stupid, arrogant and misguided– but it is indeed the opposite. They are respecting the view of the people and the prime minister’s speeches.

Bob Vasey Address supplied

Through your paper I would like to ask Theresa May if I could be put on the list to be foreign secretary sometime soon. I feel my chances of being selected have improved markedly with the frequency of cabinet resignations. I would be willing to join the Conservative Party and although a Remainer I could overcome this for a few weeks.

The prospect of travel to interesting places and meeting fascinating people is very attractive. I would only take up a few weeks of government time and not do too much other than vote the way she tells me to. Then I could resign leaving the way open for someone else to take over.

Ashley Herbert Huddersfield

Now it only requires Gove to go and literally all the privileged white blokes who got us into the Brexs**t will have absconded – leaving the country with mess and stink just nine months before it hits the fan.

Meanwhile Worzel Corbyn is angling for another general election.

There are penguins at my local zoo that could manage things better.

Amanda Baker Edinburgh

Our first-past-the-post voting system is defended on the grounds that it provides strong and stable government. The open warfare in the current government is yet another example of the flaw in this argument (24 hours of Brexit mayhem).

This voting system has created a predominantly two-party state with the result that the Conservative and Labour parties now encompass such a broad range of opinions that, on assuming power, the various factions within them tend to undermine the governments they form.

It’s time MPs were elected to parliament by proportional representation to enable a realignment of the political parties and fair representation – preferably using the single transferable vote in multiple seat constituencies.

Roger Hinds Surrey

I don’t think the Brexit dream is dying at all. What is dying is Boris Johnson’s wish that he be an even more consequential figure in British politics. To that I say great – I’m tired of his antics and his boorish behaviour.

Steve Mumby Bournemouth

You quote the MP formerly known as the foreign secretary as describing Theresa May’s stance as putting us into the status of a colony and as going into battle with “white flags fluttering”. How telling.

First, that’s exactly how we have treated much of the world, so why not us now? Second, when exactly did this negotiation become a battle? A strong, cohesive partnership with Europe was always our best option. Oh, for those good old days, rather than those of some inglorious past after which the blond, self-serving muppet hankers.

Beryl Wall London W4

Boris Johnson, that Tory MP who is most noteworthy for the scale of his Brexit campaign lies, and the fiasco of supporting a UK citizen being held in an Iranian prison by stating in the Commons chamber that she was guilty of her trumped-up charges (among so many other offences), has now decided to resign his post as foreign secretary – but only after failing to turn up to chair the West Balkans Summit, forcing Angela Merkel to ask where he was.

How much more evidence does the Tory Party need to accept this individual is a self-centred rogue who should be de-selected? Come on, let’s show this narcissistic man the door for once and for all.

David Curran Feltham

With a referendum result of 17.4 million for Leave, and 16.1 million for Remain, then perhaps a “semi-Brexit” is exactly what the country voted for.

Peter Kirkbride Wirral

Providing more electric car charge points is a fine aspiration, but the plethora of operators is a major obstacle. To get decent coverage, you have to be signed up to at least four different networks. It’s akin to driving a conventional car and only being able to use one brand of petrol.

Any future plan must include a common payment interface for all networks so any owner can use any charge point. Networks would still, like fuel stations, compete on price, convenience, service and charging speed. Without this, all other plans are pointless.

David Watson Goring Heath

Usually after a few days of snow or subzero temperatures a prominent climate change denier (it could be anybody along a scale running from, say, Jeremy Clarkson to Nigel Lawson) comes along and says “so much for global warming”.

So how come after weeks of sunshine and higher than average temperatures we haven’t heard a peep saying it must be true?

It would be an equally ludicrous statement, of course, conflating weather with climate change, but if we must be subject to inane pronouncements let’s at least have some consistency.

Michael O’Hare Northwood

The article on toothbrushes was informative – if shocking that a toothbrush can cost £360. However, what about cost in use? In my experience with these devices the key “cost of ownership” issues are the cost of heads and, crucially, battery life and degradation. The latter appears to consign fully workable tools such as this to the WEEE heap with frustrating regularity.

Why cannot these companies provide for battery replacement and recycling? We worry about the shortage of scarce materials for batteries and yet continue to pour these products onto the market.

Michael Mann Shrewsbury

In your article “Number of elderly people deprived of vital support hits record high, finds report”, you highlight the striking number of older people who are being neglected by our social care system.

This is indeed an issue we must urgently address, but it does not just affect elderly people in our society.

Eight in 10 people we recently surveyed, who would have been eligible for aids and adaptations from their local authorities, are missing out on free equipment. This can be a grab rail in the bathroom to stop someone slipping and falling, or kitchen aids to help them make meals for themselves. By not providing people with these means to stay independent for longer, we are putting strain on other health and care services, which are already under pressure.

We are calling on local authorities to ensure people with arthritis know about, and can access, the support they’re entitled to. But we also need central government to step up and support local authorities in fulfilling their duties.

With 17.8 million people with arthritis and related conditions in the UK, the potential impact of the proper provision of aids and adaptations should not be underestimated.

Liam O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer at Arthritis Research UK London EC4R