Rishi Sunak is busy commenting on the cricket when he should be fixing the NHS

On the 75th birthday of the NHS was Rishi Sunak praying that he can conjure up a divine miracle to sort the problems in our health service that the Conservatives have created?

Junior doctors deserve a fair pay rise and the public continues to fully support them. Too many doctors are leaving the NHS to work abroad with better pay, terms, and conditions than they have here. Do they want to? Probably not.

Yet we have an intransigent health secretary and a prime minister who, despite promising the British public that he would work every hour to deliver for the country, is more interested in criticising Australian cricketers than sorting out yet another industrial mess that will have a huge impact on waiting lists.

Sort this out Sunak, before it’s too late.

Gordon Ronald

Herts

I could not agree more with Karen Brittain’s excellent letter in The Independent. Like her, I am also fed up with the constant government avoidance of answering any questions during Prime Minister’s Questions. Recently, the PMQs featured Oliver Dowden who preferred petty personal jibes and avoidance rather than addressing any serious questions.

The PMQs’ demise that began with Boris Johnson, the master of mendacity, was briefly respected by Liz Truss in her short spell as PM, but little else as we know. The latest Tory government seem to have gone back to the dark old Boris days. Rishi Sunak stated in his first speech as PM “this government will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level”.

Well, I am failing to see this in action. PMQs demonstrate firsthand the lack of respect, integrity, professionalism and accountability from those at the very top.

Why can’t our top politicians just answer the question? Is expressing the political views they’ve built their careers upon just too much to ask?

Paul Morrison

Glasgow

Last month, Canada was forced to contend with perhaps its worst wildfires in 100 years. Firefighters have battled more than 400 fires across an area more than twice the size of Wales. Toxic smoke from the fires engulfed New York in an apocalyptic orange haze and even billowed across the Atlantic to reach Europe.

The disaster comes less than two years after the IPCC cited wildfires as a particularly dangerous symptom of the climate crisis. Last year the UN Environment Programme forecasted a 50 per cent increase in wildfires by 2100, indicating even the Arctic could be at risk of outbreaks by the end of the century.

The fires are a symbol of a global order punch drunk on the exponential growth in hyper-consumerism. Earlier this year, the European Union forecasted the global consumer class will reach some 5 billion people – with 1.3 billion more people with increased purchasing power than today.

If we are to create any future for the 10.4 billion people that will inhabit the earth by the end of the century, humankind needs to get much more creative very quickly as to how we design the world economy – from the products we use to the food we eat.

Fortunately, the pace of human innovation has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, for example, forecasts by 2025 there will be 160 million designers and creative decision-makers in the world – representing 5 per cent of the global workforce of 3.4 billion people. History proves that maverick creative thinkers drag humankind from one system to another. Never before have we needed this more.

A new journal published this month – To Think Tomorrow – suggests governments and businesses around the world should give these thinkers the creative freedom to design a radical new world that doesn’t rely on perpetual consumer growth as the critical measure of success.

The world is on fire. It’s time to design a new tomorrow.

Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder, A Plastic Planet & Ben Parker, Creative Director, Made Thought

Animal testing is a cruel and unnecessary practice that has no place in the modern world. Since AI has created even more opportunities for cutting-edge, non-animal methodologies, it’s high time for the government to honour its manifesto commitment to lead in animal welfare and science by ending the mass suffering and killing carried out in laboratories across the country.

Numerous studies have shown that experiments on animals are counterproductive, diverting resources away from more promising areas of research, causing animals to suffer, and delaying the development of potentially life-saving drugs. Just this week, the Animals in Science Committee published a letter to government ministers noting the urgency for a government-led strategy on the development of non-animal methods to protect humans and other animals alike.

British public opinion stands with animals – the government must keep up with the times by getting rid of archaic animal experiments. Arming scientists with sophisticated, humane research tools is the best way forward.

Dr Kimberley Jayne

PETA UK

I was aghast to read Simon Calder’s latest article in The Independent stating that rail ticket offices are likely to be closed by Christmas.

I wonder if train operators understand the positive image which is generated through the ticket offices. As an intermittent user of ticket offices, I can confirm the appreciation of others (often tourists) for the helpful, courteous service they receive there.

I don’t see how staff on a busy concourse/platform are going to provide similar support, even if the visiting punter knows who to ask for rail advice and ticket purchases.

Sadly, rail operators are following the same trend as other organisations (such as banks, utilities, BT) and diverting customers to online or phone contact from a face-to-face service. Invariably this leads to frustration for the customer, particularly when the query doesn’t fit the organisation’s algorithms.

Rail operators need to be reminded of the significant silent benefit to their organisation from helpful ticket office staff. Once lost, appreciation of this personal service will lead to a worsening public perception of the railways, which, at this point, it could do without.

Claire Pike

London