No-deal Brexit could make panic buying much worse this time around

So, people are beginning to stockpile again. The pundits seem to think it is a repeat of the first lockdown. They don’t yet seem to be making an obvious link – namely the additional potential for the chaos of a looming no-deal Brexit.

Our supermarkets tell us there’s no shortage of supply because they get multiple deliveries every day. However, they rely on ”just in time” systems. The prospect of 7,000 trucks stuck in Kent and a two-day delay in imports will wholly disrupt those systems. No matter how much the government seeks to blame the hauliers, the blame will lie 100 per cent upon Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.  

Arthur Streatfield

Bath

The breaking of election pledges and U-turns are now commonplace for BoZo’s government, but this takes the biscuit (Tories postpone pledge to ban no-fault evictions for renters until economy recovers, 23 September).

Have I got this right? The economic situation is too dire to help keep the roofs over the heads of those living in this precarious housing sector, and more likely than most to be struggling financially? The pledge is reported to be “postponed until there is a stable economic terrain”, by which time (six months, a year, two years, what?) the lives of many of the poorest in society will have been destroyed.

Eddie Dougall

Walsham le Willows

Why is the prime minister allowed to get away with always saying “NHS Test and Trace” when the NHS is not allowed to do testing and the government has outsourced to Serco and Sitel?

People place faith in the NHS. They no longer have faith in Boris Johnson.  Shouldn’t he be required to say “(my mate) Dido Harding’s Test and Trace?”

Susan Robinson

Address supplied

Many of my ageing generation have led lives looking forward to a bright future. The young do not have that privilege. We have spoilt it for them.

Too few of us are convinced of the urgency to tackle the daunting problem of the climate crisis, as well as pollution, species loss, overpopulation, poverty, disease and so on.

While individuals can make some improvements, only governments can make a significant change. It will have to be paid for by taxing those who can afford it.

With appropriate legislation, all new homes could be carbon neutral. Developers should be required to instal solar panels with all new buildings. Insulation standards should be raised. There should be no provision of gas for heating or cooking. Good reasons for not providing ground or air heat exchangers should be required. There should be no chimneys to encourage burning of fossil fuels.

Much could also be accomplished by retrofitting in existing properties, including commercial buildings.

I can hear readers saying it is a dream to hope for rapid change. The alternative will be a nightmare if we fail to tackle the problem now.

John Peacock

Frome

Vince Cable raised some interesting (provocative?) points (“When it comes to coronavirus, were the political ‘bad guys’ right all along?”) but, like our government, he fails to take account of the full impact of Covid-19.  

He talks of excess deaths, the collateral damage of those who die because health services are prioritising treating the virus at the expense of, for example, cancer or stroke patients, and of the harm to the economy.  

The “collateral damage” that he fails to highlight – as does the government – comprises those with “long Covid”. They may need ongoing medical care (we don’t know for how long) and they may cease to be economically active (we don’t know for how long). Perhaps these cases should also be reported in the statistics.

Beryl Wall

London W4