Twenty five years later, British politics is still mired in sleaze

If I had, in tribute to Rip Van Winkle, chosen to sleep for the last 25 years – yes, I know he only slept for 20 years – I would now survey the political sphere in this country and be reassured at the total lack of change: allegations of corruption, tax evasion and general sleaze garnished with bungling incompetence.

The only thing that would amaze me is the fact that one can now watch pornography on a mobile phone. That certainly is progress: I clearly remember that all one could do in 1997 was ring someone up on something similar to a landline, but often with intermittent connections; and if one did have the urge to view such questionable content, one would need a desktop computer of sizeable proportions – no sniggering please.

Robert Boston

Kingshill, Kent

We now seem to hear of another government scandal on a daily basis. Sometimes more than one.

Is there anything a Tory minister can do, short of murder, or prancing into the Commons stark naked, that will result in dismissal? It would seem not.

I feel for the people whose helpless elderly parents were, effectively, killed in their care homes through government recklessness, incompetence and hubris. This scandal alone should result in the collapse of the government – but will it?

No, of course it won’t, because standards have slipped so low that the only principle now seems to be to bluster and brag their way out of every new scandal, and the system is now so corrupt, and the public so worn down that the grotesque carnival of horrors just keeps rolling along.

Penny Little

Oxfordshire

So the government now believes in a free press. But only if it’s the Tory-supporting Daily Mail, it seems. So what about their attacks on Channel 4 and the BBC who dare to present a balanced view?

Pure hypocrisy?

Nigel Groom

Essex

No surprise then that Mr Johnson fails to support the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and invokes “freedom of the press”. All of a piece with the scorn and derision for those who may disagree, which is the stock in trade of senior ministers, the right-wing press and their unrestrained columnists.

This is what the post-Brexit Tory party has become in the hands of the adolescent, playground bully politicians who lead it. Contemptuous and disdainful from the top downwards and tolerant of misogyny, whilst its leaders strive for headlines and photo opportunities.

Perry Gardner

Wolsingham

Salma Shah talks about promoting the vibes of “Merry Old England” in relation to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Hopefully, that means the rest of us in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will be spared all the shenanigans around this pointless event, if not the costs.

G Forward

Stirling

Sajid Javid used an offshore trust as an aide to George Osbourne to pay less tax, as reported in The Independent yesterday. "Mr Javid was using a trust, understood to have been located in a tax haven, to cut his personal tax burden."

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

I would suggest the use of the word “burden” in this context is an incorrect descriptor for transparent inequity and iniquity. Tax is an obligation, not a burden. These ridiculous schemes exist because bad law legitimises them. They are indefensible.

David Nelmes

Newport

The current frequency of MOTs and the minimum staffing levels in nurseries were presumably set with consideration of acceptable levels of risk. Fiddling with these ratios will increase the risks, and so, in justification, the government must share their calculations to show the impact of any changes.

Otherwise, we may see them in extremis selling off bridge parapets – the scrap value of aluminium and steel is always high – sacking lollipop ladies or stopping maintenance of traffic lights.

Maybe they would be better off cutting Rees-Mogg’s stationery budget to prevent him from embarrassing himself.

Tim Sidaway

Hertfordshire