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Proportional representation would open the door to people like Farage

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Sunday 09 June 2024 12:37 EDT
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Having to listen to Farage in parliament would drag this country down to a new and dangerous low
Having to listen to Farage in parliament would drag this country down to a new and dangerous low (BBC/AFP via Getty)

I’m appalled at the suggestion that having Farage sitting in the House of Commons would be “good for political debate”. It’s bad enough listening to his extreme rhetoric being spouted in the media, but having to listen to it in parliament would drag this country down to a new and dangerous low.

Whenever new polls are published showing increasing support for the Reform Party, I thank the heavens for our first-past-the-post system, which has helped keep extremism out of Westminster (although certain sections of the Tories seem to be bringing their own brand of that into government).

Proportional representation would open the door to a whole range of minority parties having the ability to influence government in a close-run election. Not necessarily an evil where benign policies from the Lib Dems or the Green Party are concerned, but a Farage-led Reform would be a completely different story.

Name supplied

Enfield

David Cameron’s great regret

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through the mind of David Cameron whilst standing on Omaha Beach with three world leaders the other day.

Perhaps: “If only I hadn’t called that ludicrous EU referendum I’d be standing here as the prime minister, rather than a foreign secretary who in just over three weeks will be witnessing not only the destruction of the party I believe in – because I unwittingly unleashed four hopeless PMs on the UK – but also the ignominious prospect of packing my bags and leaving the Foreign Office.”

Yes, perhaps something like that.

Robert Boston

Kent

Nigel Farage would be Boris 2.0

Apparently, Tory voters want Farage to succeed Sunak as leader.

I can only assume that Tory voters hope – nay, pray – that our Nigel will lead them to that far-off promised land, the sunny uplands, a land of milk and honey. A promise Boris Johnson failed to keep, just as our NHS has never even had a whiff of the 35 million a week promised, despite being so largely displayed on the side of a bus.

Should anyone care to remember?

Gunter Straub

London

Are we overreacting to Rishi’s D-Day gaffe?

I’m no fan of the Tories, but all this outrage about the prime minister leaving the D-Day commemoration early strikes me as a little overblown.

As the PM said, he met with the veterans and paid his due respects at the event – what more can we really expect of him? If anything, it’s a good thing he left, as posing for pictures with other world leaders when he will no longer number among them in a few short weeks could have been extremely awkward for him!

Molly Howe

Canterbury

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