History teaches us that corruption kills – but this government refuses to learn

In the 17th and 18th century it was corruption by naval suppliers providing rotten timbers for ships, adulterating food supplies and defective gunpowder which caused sickness and loss of life at sea. Such corruption was eventually rooted out, and systems put in place to ensure the government got good value for money when spending taxpayers’ money. It was a long and difficult lesson to learn – that corruption kills.

Unfortunately this present government has repeatedly ignored the fact that rules are put in place for very good reasons. Giving million-pound contracts for PPE to companies with no experience of medical equipment procurement, and indeed prioritising those with no knowledge or experience over British companies which specialise in this area, resulted in hundreds of NHS staff dying unnecessarily in the pandemic.

No wonder Dominic Cummings wrote of needing to remove the vaccination rollout from the “smoking ruin” of the Department of Health. Entrusted to GPs, the rollout has gone smoothly. But the dithering and mixed messages still goes on with failure to secure our borders against incoming passengers from red list countries. Was the slow action on India for political reasons?

If we do not learn from history, then we are likely to repeat the mistakes. Corruption kills.

Pete Milory

Address supplied

So Islamophobia in the Conservative Party does not make Britain structurally racist? Just because one person spoke of “piccaninnies”, “watermelon smiles” and said that women wearing the burka look like “letterboxes” – promote him to prime minister.

Mike Bor

London W2

It occurred to me while reading the amusing, and more prescient than many would believe, article by Sean O’Grady (‘Best man Michael Gove and a slice of wedding Cakeism – what can we expect when Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds tie the knot?’, 24 May) that the “wedding of the year” should be held at the Festival of Brexit. My understanding is that multiple events will occur at various locations, which makes it easy for the happy couple to choose their favourite spot. Boston (had to mention that one), Thurrock and Hartlepool spring to mind.

I have every confidence that Johnson would like nothing better than to be with some of his most ardent supporters on this memorable, once in a lifetime, day. He could share amusing anecdotes about socking it to those unelected EU bureaucrats and expand his repertoire with more outlandish promises, excuses and blame mongering.

With copious alcohol supplied by Tim Martin, as well as entertainment by Roger Daltrey and Jim Davidson, what could possibly go wrong?

Robert Boston

Kingshill

I notice that when reporting the air piracy and kidnapping of Roman Protasevich and the other passengers on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania, some media outlets have dropped the term FSB, which Russians use, and reverted to the more familiar term of KGB to identify those involved in state-sponsored terrorism.

This is a positive step. Calling a spade a spade helps concentrate the mind. The next step is for us to face up to the reality that there is an undeclared Cold War and that data has and will continue to play a major part in the arsenals of those involved. We saw it with Brexit and the Trump election. Social media companies, which collect masses of data to sell, see this as the gift that keeps on giving and have used their huge wealth and political clout to frustrate any attempts by elected governments to reign them in, just as long as their profits continue to grow exponentially.

This must not be allowed to continue. We cannot allow Facebook, Google et al to undermine democracy while aiding and abetting those bent on our destruction. We need to wake up now, not tomorrow, rush a bill through parliament to “take back control”, not from the EU but social media and Vladimir Putin, and remember that Putin’s objectives have always included the destruction of the EU and Nato to help drive countries formally under Russian control back to the motherland.

Brexit was just the first step in his undeclared war where data is a weapon used quietly and effectively under the radar of public awareness to achieve his ambitions.

John Simpson

Ross on Wye

Animal Rebellion and other groups who have a message to proclaim and want to encourage others to share their viewpoint have every right to publicly state it. However, they must not prevent others from going about their lawful business. If they do, judges must handout punishments proportionate to the losses incurred by businesses they cause by their actions. Otherwise other groups will disrupt businesses without fear of consequences. Democracy must be respected.

J Longstaff

East Sussex