If Trump is elected for a second term he will find a way to create a third

Mary Dejevsky often writes very interesting and thought-provoking articles that somewhat cut across what many Independent readers might be thinking, but I feel that in rating Donald Trump as a peacemaker she is perhaps missing the point. The people autocrats like to be friendly with and flatter are mostly fellow autocrats.

Trump, like all right-wing rulers, tends to mistrust and even fear the power of trade unions, which are in fact just representing the will of the people, and are most likely to turn to militancy only when they are not engaged in decision-making, and are ignored.

If Trump is elected for a second term, can there be any doubt that he will quickly try to find ways to secure a third? I’m sure he studies Vladimir Putin’s methods closely.

David Buckton

Cambridge

It is good news that we have another serious news channel arriving. 

I used to be a staunch defender of the BBC and of the license fee, but I haven’t felt the same since the BBC caved in over the Emily Maitlis/Dominic Cummings Newsnight business. Everyone knew what had happened, yet the BBC leadership was too weak to support its own staff and hold the government to account. I see little point in paying the licence fee if the BBC is too weak to stand up to those in power.

Arthur Streatfield

Bath

Chris Blackhurst rightly says that Thatcher smashed the unions, which had “shackled” the country.

However, power goes elsewhere, it does not just disappear and in this case the power went to an unregulated City which led to the financial crisis and, arguably, Brexit.

Solving one problem by creating a bigger one is not how to run a country.

Joanna Pallister

Durham City

Now that we can all see more of what Brexit will mean in reality, why have there been no recent opinion polls on the current support for the likely outcome?

Steve Dawes

Malvern

Every day we seem to creep towards a more national lockdown. Does the government think we won’t notice if  it does it city by city? Does it think we are so stupid that we won’t notice if we creep toward a national lockdown rather than just announce it on one day?

Please, please, can we get a government that has a brain and a backbone. Right now, we have Rishi Sunak and that’s it. I can’t imagine having to report to the idiot-in-chief.

Steve Mumby

London

Spurred by the spate of NHS advertisements, I went to the App Store on my six-year-old iPhone to download the NHS Covid-19 app. 

As someone in the “at-risk” category, I thought it sensible to have the additional reassurance. But no! I am “Unable to Purchase. NHS Covid-19 is not compatible with this iPhone.” 

So I am now faced with the choice of buying a new iPhone or going without the app. We don’t all change our phones every time a new model comes out. 

Why were older iPhones not considered in the planning and development stages? 

Christopher Bratt 

Arnside