For the Tory party, the writing is already on the wall

So, the Tories are at war even during the Christmas recess.

This time it’s over speculation about the date of the general election, which is now strongly favoured to be in the spring shortly after the early March Budget. Even though the plot originates from the right wing of the Conservative Party, one look at Twitter and you can see from the account of former MP Gavin Barwell (a centrist former chief of staff to Theresa May) that support is growing.

While Barwell’s thinking is to avoid the prime minister being labelled “Chicken Sunak” by Easter (a bit like Gordon Brown in 2007), those on the Conservative right wing still see the Rwanda bill as a way of creating a new meaning to the phrase “taking back control”.

My take on this is that the right wing of the Conservative Party can already see the writing on the wall and want to seize control of the party before they lose their seats.

Geoffrey Brooking

Havant

The Independent’s recent article regarding the Tories’ proposed Budget giveaway does not surprise me in the least – of course they will! Their idea is that the British people are so fickle, they will forget all the fiascos that have gone on over their tenure of government.

That they will forget the Covid pantomime with Boris Johnson, forget Liz Truss bringing the country to its knees with her economic plan, forget the shambles of HS2 that cost billions in taxpayers’ money… and the list goes on. It has been such a farce, how can we really take the Tories to be credible?

Do they think a Budget will put everything right with public opinion? That it will make us forget our run-down NHS, the treatment of doctors and nurses seeking fair pay, the desperation at food banks as people can’t afford to feed their families, and all the disgraced Tory MPs who have been replaced in by-elections?

What this country needs quickly is change, a different approach, and a government that cares about the many, not the few.

Paul Atkins

Burntwood

2023 has been the most appalling year in decades.

We have witnessed an upsurge of death and destruction unrivalled in human memory. We are aghast at the enormous toll of civilian deaths and casualties in Gaza. This ruthless and indiscriminate savagery must stop. We can no longer withstand the harrowing images of corpses piled over each other, of the deafening silence of hospitals with no medicines, anaesthesia and medical equipment, and of the sick and dying lying on floors.

Gaza is already experiencing a catastrophic famine with no light at the end of the tunnel. Also, the spillover of war is already happening in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. When will the global community realise that the utter denial of human rights, dignity and hope to the Palestinians is bound to fuel radicalism and rage that reverberate far beyond Gaza?

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

The reports around the deaths of two great European politicians, Jacques Delors and Wolfgang Schäuble, got me thinking about the enormity of their contribution to the continent’s continued peace and the successful reintegration of the communist East. I remember the former very well over the years, but sadly my knowledge of the latter is far less, my clearest memory being his attempted assassination in the year I married.

Finishing the many tributes, I was swiftly engulfed by the contrast of an article predicting a knighthood for the Wetherspoons founder Tim Martin. Two political giants leave us, and we award a man who sells cheap booze and has zealously supported Brexit. In my eyes, it sums up how far we have fallen.

Robert Boston

Kent

Our transport secretary, Mark Harper, has announced that driverless cars will be let loose on our roads by 2026. Given that in common with most ministers he seemingly has little or no knowledge or background in the subject of his brief, let alone in AI, we must assume he is relying on the work of others more qualified.

While I appreciate there may be some limited situations for the safe use of driverless cars, I would suggest, from reading about this, that we are many, many years away from the rollout of this technology. It would be interesting to have a full and frank discussion on this topic with the leading experts in the field. My prediction is that I will not see a general rollout of driverless cars in my lifetime.

Geoff Forward

Stirling