Now the Tory bribes have failed, it’s time to get tough

Rishi Sunak and his advisers seem to believe that in trying to persuade people to vote for them, they are dealing with recalcitrant children...

They tried offering us sweetie bribes – 2p off national insurance, 2p off income tax, cancelling inheritance tax (one for the rich kids) – so long as we were really, really well-behaved when handing over our votes. Well, the local election results showed that really didn’t work, did it?

So now, it’s time to get tough with us.

As we didn’t do as we were told, Sunak reminds us of the bogeymen and other monsters hiding under the bed, because he is the only one who can save us.

Really, Sunak, is this the best you can offer? The threats come over as if given by a petulant babysitter. After all, how do you expect us to trust you to face up to and manage these potential threats when you cannot even manage your squabbling MPs fighting like cats in a sack?

Perhaps if you sat down with someone who has suffered through 14 years of Tory rule, seen the starvation of our public services, and had to endure prime ministers who have made a mockery of the role (destroying our economy in the process) then you might understand that what we really need is a grown-up running the country.

Please sir, can we have an election now?

Kate Hall

Leeds

Sunak’s attempts to scare people into voting for his government is a surprising direction for him to take, considering this government, in my opinion, has regularly taken steps toward being a more authoritarian state anyway. Now they are considering banning environmental protection groups and political demonstrations they don’t agree with, when the existing laws on public nuisance and disorderly conduct are already strong enough to deal with any problems that arise.

Perhaps Sunak’s answer to the “threat” is the old adage “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em”.

I find his claim that only a Conservative government can deal with any threats to the UK absurd, especially considering that this is the most incompetent government that has been in power in the 60-plus years I have been able to vote.

Bob Sampson

West Sussex

So, as the dire Tory mismanagement of our country comes to an end we are informed that the economy will shrink over the next couple of years. Hand in hand with unemployment that has risen over the past year, a jobs market that is shrinking and apparently, it is Rishi Sunak who is the man to lead us through to his promised land.

He has the audacity to believe that we will simply ignore the past 14 years of his party’s atrocious governance and re-elect the Tories.

The country is worse off than when the Tories came to power. Every facet of British life has suffered under Tory rule. Britain is a weakened country due to Brexit and at the mercy of those countries that we were once an equal. We have a debt pile not seen since the Second World War and a diminishing ability to repay it.

And still, the arrogance of the government continues when we are told that, “we have turned the corner”.

It would be madness to re-elect a) anyone who voted for Brexit, b) any of the current Tory MPs and c) anyone who doesn’t want change. Only when we have a government that is working on behalf of the nation will we see positive changes occurring.

When they are elected the poor old Labour Party will be starting from a very low threshold, with very little chance of righting the wrongs of the past 14 years. But I believe that they are the party that will do the best for the people of Britain.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

There’s nothing Rishi Sunak likes better than addressing the nation from behind a plinth. It seems he sees himself as a heavy-weight “statesman” making proclamations of world importance every time he mounts a podium.

The delusion does him no favours. All his posturing does is remind the world how utterly unfit he is for public office.

Sunak made his most recent underwhelming speech in the shadow of recent elections that saw the Conservatives lose nearly 500 council seats. Now trailing Labour by 30 per cent in the polls, Sunak insists he has “bold ideas” to steer Britain through the next five years.

Sunak’s vision for the next five years is as empty as his last five.

He is heading for the dustbin of history because the public understands that democracy, the rule of law, and the right to protest in the UK are not threatened by Russia, China or Iran. They are under attack from Sunak’s government.

Here’s a “bold idea”. Let’s have a general election. Now.

Sasha Simic

London

When being interviewed recently, David Cameron said the government would not stop supplying arms to Israel because lawyers had said it was legal to do so, implying it was outside government control.

Yet at the same time, the prime minister insists that asylum seekers (I refuse to call them illegal immigrants ) will be sent to Rwanda, thus overruling the High Court’s judgement that this will be an illegal act.

It is a shameful double standard which discredits our country.

I feel very concerned about how much more damage will be done to our reputation before the government have to call a General Election.

Margaret Crosby

Wheathampstead