If you can't acknowledge its mistakes, don't highlight New Labour's successes

The mistakes that New Labour made, as detailed by Rabbil Sikdar, cannot be separated from its “successes”. It was the embrace of the public expenditure limits that flowed from the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties that led to Labour making the Tory PFI scheme its signature policy.

Gordon Brown’s policies enabled increases in social spending by taxing cities’ revenues, but this cannot be separated from the consequences of the finance sector deregulation that permitted these enormous flows and led to the 2008 bank crisis.

The consequences of New Labour rescuing bank shareholder value has been a decade of austerity. This austerity is irredeemably attached in the minds of millions of voters to the policies that flowed from membership of the EU.

Nick Wright
London

The citizenship test shouldn’t be mandated

It is time for the UK to end the pointless citizenship test. As one NHS doctor tweeted today: “I came to the UK 22 years ago. GCSEs, A-levels and a degree later I have been an NHS doctor for 13 years [and] four as a consultant. I married a Geordie and have a British child. I am about to sit a test about the Whig party and the 1832 Reform Act so I deffo get to stay.”

I am sure some native Britons would never pass the test and that there are many Europeans who have a better grasp of English grammar than some people born on our shores. In fact, my wife, who is originally from Argentina, has a better knowledge of English literature classics than I do.

The citizenship test is a meaningless and useless activity, which is simply a way of raising more funds to cover the costs of the Home Office. Let us put it to bed and enable the people who spend enough time in the UK to become British citizens.

Chris Key
Address supplied

Some privacy, please

The internet has done it again – military bases are shown on a fitness map. At least we now know that the soldiers are working on their fitness. Obviously the military concerns are no joking matter. As the more information that is out there, the greater potential dangers there are.

When somebody checks my personal fitness device on the map, it is more likely to be at a coffee shop than a gym. There is a potential concern that if it is all hacked then people will know when I am out of my house or where I am. Then, the paparazzi can find me – not that they would want to.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

You have too many strikes, Teresa May

For some time, people who want the UK to leave the EU have been concerned that Theresa May does not seem to be fully committed to getting a good Brexit deal. She seems far too willing to give the EU whatever they ask for. She appears to have too many Tory “Remainers” close to her, whose advice she prefers to take.

When, because of allegations of indiscretions, she lost her de facto deputy Damian Green, she had the opportunity to rebalance her inner core of advisors. But, she did not take it. She replaced Green with an even more ardent Remain supporter, David Lidington, displaying an almost unbelievable lack of political acumen. One of his first comments was to say that he could see the possibility of the UK rejoining the EU a few years after leaving. Hardly a ringing endorsement of the 17.4 million who voted to leave.

How much longer are Conservative party members and MPs going to put up with a “give away” leader?

Ken Shuttleworth
Hertsfordshire