Our next general election could be a race to the bottom

I do hope that the coming election does not become the type of contest that takes place between infants on a school playground. “My dad could beat up your dad” and all that.

Sinking to the lowest denominator in an argument is usually only done by those losing the argument, and I believe the Tories have really no realistic arguments to explain their mismanagement of the country. Personal attacks on candidates, of any hue, have no place in canvassing for our votes in the next general election. The election is not a contest between individuals to race to the bottom, but an examination of the party’s competence to govern and their manifestos.

If all the parties put their case forward honestly and clearly, we, the electorate, will choose which party will govern us for the next five years. But using obfuscation to win an argument will give false hope to an already dejected electorate. MPs are held in near contempt, and this election is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate to the public that they can behave in a decent and honest fashion.

We probably have a rocky road ahead, but I’m content to put my trust in Labour’s ability to achieve a better standard of living, be more aware of our needs and, at long last, care about the people of Britain.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

The Labour Party, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, has long since settled on a strategy of waiting for the rotten fruit to fall from the tree (and few can doubt that the rotten fruit will fall).

If, at this point, Starmer remains so unwilling to say much at all about what Labour will do in government, it is either because he (and they) do not believe that what they have to say (beyond platitudes) is likely to be the least bit convincing to the electorate, or they do have worthwhile policy ideas but lack the necessary belief in their capacity to persuade the electorate that they know what needs to be done.

At this point, in the run-up to a general election, it isn’t Starmer’s lack of fizz that’s the problem. It is his unwillingness to say anything of real substance in response to the kinds of arguments he has faced from people like Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite the Union.

A political party that fails to prepare the electorate for the genuinely hard road that Britain needs to travel to escape its badly managed decline is destined to fail politically – and, far more importantly, fail Britain.

Starmer can repeat the word “hope” in speech after speech – in fact, he can repeat it until he is blue in the face – but he and his shadow cabinet colleagues need to stand up and talk about what actually needs to be done to change Britain.

Ed Randall

South London

It wasn’t so long ago we had David Cameron telling us “we’re all in this together”. Now another even more wealthy Tory leader is telling us “it hasn’t been the easiest of years for any of us”. It’s time these multi-millionaires stopped treating us like fools with their cynical attempts to convince us that they are one of us.

Geoff Forward

Stirling

If there is one thing to emerge from the sad and tragic saga of the Post Office scandal it is that perseverance can pay off and David does sometimes defeat Goliath. In 2024 we all need to be a bit more like former subpostmaser Alan Bates and to fight for what is right.

In social care, we must give a voice to the 1.6 million people who currently cannot get social care and the thousands who are stuck in hospitals because there are no care packages available.

We have to campaign for fair treatment, justice and social care reform – it is time we had our day too.

Mike Padgham

York

While attacking junior doctors for striking for a just wage, health secretary Victoria Atkins insisted that “the NHS belongs to everyone in the UK”.

She’s not wrong. The NHS does belong to everyone – but that hasn’t stopped the Tories selling off parts of our health service to their chums in the private sector.

Society owes junior doctors. They were on the front line of the pandemic and many of them lost their lives in the service of their patients.

Junior doctors deserve pay restoration to give them a just wage.

Along with millions of others, I support their strike.

Sasha Simic

London