Conservative leaders like George Osborne must allow successors to act swiftly for Britain
SIR – If George Osborne were to be retained as Chancellor by Boris Johnson, should he become prime minister (report, June 27), then why did I and thousands of other people vote Leave? Nick Hawksley Ilminster, Somerset
SIR – Charles Moore (Comment, June 27) is right that Mr Osborne has to go. By making wild warnings of doom during the referendum campaign while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he has lost all credibility. Tim Coles Carlton, Bedfordshire
SIR – A change in the legal relationship between the United Kingdom and the other member states of the EU has caused chaos on the global financial markets, especially in Asia.
The blame for this rests squarely with the scaremongering of George Osborne and Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund. The G20 finance ministers meeting in China in February fell for this nonsense. Luckily, the British people didn’t – and can now look forward to a brighter, more prosperous future, once the yoke of EU red tape has been lifted from their shoulders. Professor David Blake Cass Business School London EC1
SIR – David Cameron is big enough to lead by exchanging the roles of George Osborne and Michael Gove. This would calm everything down. Allan Crossley Walton, Staffordshire
SIR – I wholeheartedly agree with your leading article (June 28). The 1922 Committee must find a quick way to elect a new party leader within days, not months. The country needs leadership and an urgent road map of our future outside the EU to prevent further uncertainty. Paul Cook Hayling Island, Hampshire
SIR – At this difficult time Britain needs leadership; but, with a few honourable exceptions, our rulers are running round like headless chickens, while HM Opposition seems to be engaged in some private feud.
We can’t wait until October for this to be remedied. The Tories should complete their leadership election before the end of July and get the new leader in place with a plan to complete the withdrawal process for which the population has voted. Jeremy Smith Chalford, Gloucestershire
SIR – No wonder Jeremy Hunt (Comment, June 28) had a problem with the junior doctors. Did Mr Cameron not go to the EU, negotiate the best deal he could get and put it to the people by calling a referendum? Why is Mr Hunt suggesting we do the same again?
He needs to accept the verdict of the people: to leave the EU, getting the best deal we can, with no compromise on controlled immigration. Dr Santi Vathenen Alcester, Warwickshire
SIR – Mr Hunt seems to suggest the traditional action plan for EU supporters: lose a “one-off ” referendum, renegotiate, then follow up with a second referendum. Continue this process until a satisfactory result is obtained. Alistair Mackay Dunoon, Argyllshire
SIR – People paying £25 to join the Conservative Party as part of the “Stop Boris” campaign should save their money.
When I paid my subscription in April I was told that I had to be a member for three months before I could vote in any leadership election. I am eagerly anticipating my opportunity at the end of July. Mary Moore Croydon, Surrey
SIR – Theresa May would do well to decline the chance of becoming leader of the Conservative Party.
Despite her excellent credentials for the job, this post is now the greatest poisoned chalice in British political history. She should leave the impossible task of trying to salvage something from the unfolding catastrophe to one of those who have been instrumental in creating it. Stephen Porter London NW6
SIR – The next prime minister has to heal the wounds of the referendum campaign and bring together the two sides for the benefit of the country. I don’t believe that it is necessary for that person to be a member of the Leave camp.
To me, Mrs May is the obvious choice. She was a reluctant Remainer who kept her counsel during the campaign. As Home Secretary she is up to speed on immigration, and would be the ideal person to negotiate about the future of the Union.
Charismatic and politically experienced as he is, Boris Johnson would be too divisive. Roy Bailey Hungerford, Berkshire
SIR – After the referendum campaign, the virtual collapse of the Cameron regime and the ongoing Corbyn fiasco, the last thing the country needs is three months watching a bruising and totally unnecessary Conservative Party leadership campaign.
Mr Johnson delivered an extraordinary victory in the face of incredible odds. He did so calmly and skilfully, and surely he has earned the right to lead the Conservatives, the Government and the country in the most important negotiations we have seen in a century. He should be elected unopposed forthwith and get on with the job.
We have no time to waste on pandering to the inflated egos of failed politicians on any side. Jason Light Lindfield, West Sussex
SIR – I hope that readers cut out and keep Boris Johnson’s article from June 27 so that they may easily compare its contents with what actually turns out to be negotiated with the EU.
Since Thursday, those who supported the Leave campaign have displayed a craven, if understandable, desire to distance themselves from what was claimed before the vote.
The Tories absolutely must elect Boris as their new leader. Far better that he is made to confront the reality of what he has led us to, is shown that his pipe dream cannot be achieved, faces a rebellion among MPs who refuse to take the whip when they’re asked to vote on legislation that will be to Britain’s detriment, and then agrees to retire quietly and quickly to private life.
His alternative is to retain his maverick status and be able to crow from the sidelines about how he would have been able to secure a deal that eluded Mrs May. Time for him to step up and be judged. Graeme May Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
SIR – The Labour “moderates” should have been more careful what they wished for.
They complained that Jeremy Corbyn was not doing enough for the referendum campaign but, when he did speak, he said he actually wanted to see even more immigration than we already have.
The Leave side won because Labour’s traditional core voters wanted a substantial cut in the number of immigrants. They will expect the new Brexit government to deliver this. Roger Temple Tunbridge Wells, Kent
SIR – If the Labour Party didn’t want a lacklustre referendum campaign, why did they elect a leader distinctly lacking in the lustre department? Sandra Hancock Dawlish, Devon
SIR – I wish Oliver Letwin well, as he leads the effort to prepare the way for Brexit (“Crack squad of civil servants to handle Brexit,” report, June 28), not least because sorting out all the details of withdrawing will be a much more difficult task than joining. He will certainly need a few more people than an army squad.
I suggest that he could usefully look back into recent history and the experience of the Enterprise Unit set up by Margaret Thatcher under Lord Young. It was largely made up of civil servants seconded to the Cabinet Office from a variety of departments but with a number of outsiders from business who brought a great deal of useful experience and knowledge. Paul Twyman Birchington-on-Sea, Kent
SIR – What an example of the current mindset of so many of our politicians that Lord Hill, the UK Commissioner for Financial Services in the EU, has thrown in the towel because his side failed to get the vote – just when Britain needs strong representation in Europe.
Surely, having been appointed to the post by David Cameron, his responsibility remains to protect Britain’s interests – whatever his own feelings might be. Doreen Burd Matlock, Derbyshire
SIR – Alex McAuley (Letters, June 28) suggests that Leave voters have pushed the EU into an existential crisis.
Britain has always been semidetached from the EU, and if our leaving triggers a collapse, was it not doomed in any case?
I suspect that when the history is written our action will be shown to have saved Europe from itself. Sound leadership within the EU must now recognise that reform is required and that a one-way train to federalism is at odds with the will of its people. DJB Shearer Glasgow
SIR – The whole nation, and the idiots responsible for recent anti-Polish graffiti, should remember that without the gallant Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain, who shot down more enemy aircraft than any other nation, and the other courageous Poles who fought with us during the Second World War, the outcome would have been very different.
We owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. Peter Bailey Cardiff SIR – As one of the nearly 17.5 million people that voted to leave, I am becoming angry with those who would seek to cast me and others as Right-wing, delusional, immigranthating thugs.
Unfortunately, among those 17.5 million there will be those semimorons who will attack decent Polish immigrants, daub graffiti and use offensive language. It ill-behoves the BBC or politicians of any party to cast all of us who voted Leave in the same light. Dr Gordon Mudge Marlborough, Wiltshire
SIR – Did our footballers on Monday vote with their feet? Rodney Silk Billericay, Essex