Pity Rishi Sunak? As if!

John Rentoul asks why there is this upswing in pity for Rishi Sunak’s position and he asks whether this “pity” is based on voters’ feeling sorry for him or having given up on him.

From the standpoint of your average Joe (and Joanne) who doesn’t analyse Sunak’s political successes with Northern Ireland and a wider world stage, he is seen only in terms of his failure to address the financial maelstrom created by the Kwarteng/Truss comedy duo. He’s seen as oblivious to the daily horrors of exorbitant energy bills, rocketing food bills, mortgage rates, water bills and so on.

People see the chirpy mask slipping, and while we haven’t been told recently that he’s “delivering for the British people” he’s clearly on a downhill path and we can feel it in our bones.

There is pity for Sunak but it doesn’t mean we feel sorry for him. If anything it means we’ve abandoned hope that he’ll make things better.

Steve Mackinder

Denver

War is complex. We honour those that serve and rightfully, and we all hope for no more wars, but they continue to occur. It is obvious that there will be loss of lives, always far too many, and they should not be those of innocent bystanders.

The latest move by the USA to provide cluster bombs to the Ukrainian forces is simply wrong, not just because they are banned by more than 100 countries, and not just because the Russian forces are using them, but because of the impact they have on the general public. When they are deployed it’s not just one bomb to avoid but up to hundreds, and although smaller they are still deadly.

President Joe Biden has called it a “very difficult decision” but it is actually the wrong decision. I am not sure what he should do but there must be other options to find some peaceful end to this conflict which will then be followed by years of despair as the Ukrainian cities are rebuilt.

You can’t bomb a country into peace, just destruction.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Australia

In Saturday’s letters, Keith Poole rightly highlights the Tories’ refusal to answer serious questions, a clueless Oliver Dowden following the same line with questions from the opposition at PMQ’s – and acting the clown to cover his ignorance. He then turns to BBC’s Question Time with Johnny Mercer, a junior government minister and panellist, who wantonly and arrogantly dismissed out of hand the views of all the other panellists

I don’t pretend to know Mercer, but have read in some detail his military experiences in Afghanistan and what came out so loud and clear – in simple words – was what a fine and brave man he is (or was then).

How sad that on becoming a Tory government minister, and of course wishing to hold on to the elevated status of his current post, that rather than considering and discussing other opinions, he follows the typical Tory line of browbeating and demeaning those who try to argue against him

Ian Wingfield

Derbyshire

I simply fail to understand why this government says it has to “consider UK taxpayers before it awards teachers a 6 per cent pay rise”.

The UK has around half a million teachers, but it has over 12 million pensioners (I am one), and it awarded pensioners a pay rise of 10.1 per cent in April. Apparently, it did not care about UK taxpayers when it doled out this colossal amount.

A vast number of pensioners have no mortgage payments to make, but most teachers do. Is there really any thought of justice, numeracy or intelligence among today’s Tory MPs?

The government is failing in its goal of greatly reducing carbon emissions. Around the UK, roads are awash with gas-guzzling 4x4s and high-performance saloon cars. If annual road tax for such vehicles were doubled – persuading drivers to downsize – the UK exchequer could easily afford 10 per cent for teachers, and get carbon emissions from road vehicles down at the same time.

D Waddington

Dorset