Tory outreach

SIR – Sir Christopher Gent (Letters, July 19) writes that the summer recess is a good opportunity for the Conservatives to regroup and refocus on how to combat the threat of a government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

I would go further. The Conservatives must examine their consciences and consider how they and the society they are shaping are seen by the young. The Cabinet is largely comprised of baby boomers who have “had it good”.

Today’s youth believe that their parents grew up in a bubble, in which home ownership was a real possibility, pensions were based on final salaries and jobs were for life.

None of this is available now. Jobs are insecure. Home ownership is difficult without a legacy or parental donation. Younger generations have been born as Europeans and are uneasy about the rupture from the familiar that is Brexit. Climate change is a very real concern to them: what state will the world be in for their children and grandchildren? There is frustration that vested interests always seem to get in the way of real progress.

These are some of the issues that have given rise to support for Mr Corbyn. He has no answers either, but he is the only alternative and many of his supporters are too young to know about the disasters of the Seventies. Jane O’nions

Sevenoaks, Kent