Don’t stop the boats – stop the Tories

Rishi Sunak’s government insists there’s “no money” to pay nurses, junior doctors, teachers and other key workers a living wage, but are now saying they will spend up to £6bn to realise the draconian, anti-refugee measures implicit in Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill.

So, “no money” for key workers but plenty of money for barges and other cruel infrastructure designed to brutalise vulnerable asylum-seekers desperately seeking refuge from war, oppression and environmental collapse? Rishi Sunak has nothing left to offer the electorate except his racist promise to “stop the boats”.

The boats don’t need stopping. It’s the Tories who need stopping.

Sasha Simic

London

I can’t believe I would ever agree with something Jeremy Clarkson ever wrote, but his piece about Phillip Schofield is spot on.

The hatred and vitriol he has had to endure is appalling. If, as he says, the affair started after the person was over the age of consent, then he has done nothing wrong. We may feel a bit uneasy about it, but it is none of our business. The media certainly wouldn’t be acting in this way if this had been happening between an older man and a young girl. Society has been accepting of that dynamic for years. There certainly was no outrage when Bill Wyman married Mandy Smith, but somehow because Schofield had an affair with a younger man, it’s a massive homophobic scandal.

As for the “big lie”, so what? It’s none of anyone else’s business as it wasn’t illegal. Everyone at one time or another has lied, to some extent. It could even be seen as understandable, given the pressure celebrities are under to live their lives under scrutiny, especially if he was married at the time.

As for the Judases who’ve lined up to stab him in the back, I suspect it’s done out of bitterness or to protect their own career. If only the media were so outraged over the lies and action coming from parliament, the country would not be in the state it’s in.

Ken Twiss Cleveland

We read your report on the handcuffing of children in care with utter horror. The words of the care-experienced young person you interviewed, who was subjected to this inhumane treatment while being moved to a new home, says it all: “It’s hard to describe just how scared I was.”

These are children, who have entered the care system and have experienced significant trauma. They are not criminals. To treat them as such is a crime in itself.

New research from our recent Gone Too Far campaign, which highlights the instability in the care system, showed an average of 150 children in care are moved each day. How many of them are handcuffed on their way to another home? How would that affect your child?

Children in our care deserve to be treated with love, compassion and kindness, not fear and cruelty.

Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO, Become

London

As we commemorate World Environment Day, it is time to safeguard the health of our environment and emphasise the inexorable linkage between culture, education, society, psychology and the environment.

The richness of our ecosystems, their infinite resources, grace, elegance, beauty and our hope to combat poverty, hunger, inequalities, food insecurity, climate change, global warming and achieve linguistic, cultural and religious diversity and inclusivity.

Lastly, the Jordan River, the site where Jesus Christ was baptised and sacred to the three monolithic religions, is facing water dearth and environmental pollution. We cannot shrug it off for future generations. This is our hope to act united for humankind.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London