Strikes boil down to two things: morals and ethics – the government has neither

The question surrounding the strike by health professionals boils down to two things, it is a matter of morals and ethics. Clearly, this government has neither.

It has been allowing thousands of excess deaths for a very long time, rather than dealing with the underfunded, understaffed crises in our hospital wards. People have not been able to access health and social care when they need it. As the sixth richest economy in the world, it is immoral to show so little regard for the loss of human life if it suits the government’s plan. This government is choosing to let people die needlessly.

Don’t point the finger at the strikers, point the finger at this government that does not value human life. This government has been very aware of the situation for many years, but is more focused on forcing through a two-tiered health service.

Low pay and terrible working conditions mean we have been losing our NHS staff for years, and we can’t keep poaching agency staff as sticking plasters.

We should restore the pay of doctors to match inflation, despite what the Tories say the money is there.

It is simply a question of ethics and this government has none.

Henry Harwood

Southampton

Millions of people fall prey to mental ailments every day. From anxiety and depression to bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. For that reason, mental health must be put on par with physical health.

This is the kernel of achieving universal health coverage and deserves an utter commitment from the very top. The Tory government can no longer ignore people’s mental health needs or the impact of soaring living costs and rampant inflation on their wellbeing. Therefore, it should act to make mental health services available for those who need them.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

It was really good to see Ucas recommending that more young people should look beyond conventional university education to degree apprenticeships. Traditional degrees still have their appeal, but earning a decent wage while you learn high-level skills and finishing without any student debt makes a lot of sense too.

You can train these days through degree apprenticeships to be anything from a police officer to an archaeologist. Employers include the NHS, BBC, British Aerospace, GSK, Bloomberg, Network Rail, and KPMG.

The numbers starting on level 6 and 7 apprenticeships – which is degree level – increased last year by 10 per cent to 43,000 but there’s room for many more people from all backgrounds to benefit. Degree apprenticeships give young people the best of a degree and the best of an apprenticeship and I would urge young people and their families to consider them.

Jennifer Coupland

Chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

In his recent letter to The Independent Robert Murray, in his incisive last paragraph, states that we need to use the great travel resource that trains provide to reduce the harm we are doing to our environment. He is absolutely correct.

Additionally, he states that by making train travel “more pleasant and cheaper” we would commute by train more frequently and contribute to our country’s eco-health, and our own well-being. I would argue that a more reliable, easily accessed service, not necessarily a faster one, is what commuters require.

The millions of commuter and government money that has been wasted over the past thirty years is a scandal. Recently rail companies have paid bonuses to senior management for failing to provide services that they have been paid to supply.

Murray is quite right to criticise this state of affairs while our government continues to keep its head in the sand doing nothing to alleviate the ongoing problem.

Privatisation has not worked for the railways but it has been a cash cow for those lucky people running them. We need a joined-up commuting system which is reliable, cheap and safe.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke