Unless the Conservatives stop squabbling now, it will be too late to stop Jeremy Corbyn

SIR – The next election campaign is well under way and Jeremy Corbyn is winning. The Conservative Party needs to stop squabbling, dampen its egos and get its house in order, or it will soon be too late. Ralph Seymour

Hartlebury, Worcestershire

SIR – Britain faces its greatest danger in 70 years, with the uncertainty of Brexit and a neo-marxist Labour government-in-waiting.

If Cabinet ministers (aided and abetted by their political advisers) are tempted to use the platform of the Conservative conference to make their pitch for the leadership and indulge in selfish infighting, they may find that they have brought the Government down and propelled Jeremy Corbyn, John Mcdonnell and their dangerous henchmen into government.

It’s a horrific prospect – these people believe that bankrupt Venezuela is better governed than Britain. It would blight the lives of British people for generations.

Conservative ministers must put their country before themselves. They must back the Prime Minister. And they must show that there really is unity at the heart of government. Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury London SW1

SIR – Theresa May’s pathetic proposals on tuition fees will be regarded with derision by students, glee by Labour, and embarrassment by sensible Conservatives.

Like Marie Antoinette in 1789, Mrs May appears to have zero grasp of what the problem is or what to do about it. She turns in confusion to the same small clique of useless advisers and then parrots the words they put into her mouth, which only serve to render a bad situation worse. It is a repeat of the manifesto fiasco.

Mrs May simply has to go and soon, and be replaced by a leader with genuine charisma, popular appeal and a common sense with which the electorate can identify.

Otherwise it will not be long before we hear the rattle of Comrade Citizen Corbyn’s tumbrils across the cobbles of Westminster. Terry Smith

London NW11

SIR – Mrs May has attracted praise by speaking up for capitalism at long last (Leading article, September 29). At the last election it was far from obvious that she had a deep attachment to it.

No Conservative document has ever done so much damage to the capitalist cause as the interventionist manifesto written for her by ex-chief of staff Nick Timothy and the ex-mp Ben Gummer.

The case for capitalism needs to be advanced with the ardour that Jeremy Corbyn has brought to the advocacy of socialism, enabling him to capture young voters in droves with its bogus prospectus for greater prosperity through the central direction of economic resources.

His success comes the more easily because the Tories have failed to secure for young people one of the principal benefits of capitalism: the wide diffusion of property, particularly in the form of home ownership. It is a cardinal tenet of conservatism that property is the foundation of a free society.

The occasional speech in favour of capitalism will not turn the tide. The fervour that Keith Joseph brought to the task of propagating it in the Seventies needs to be rekindled.

The overwhelming merits of capitalism must be demonstrated once again by means of policies of low taxation and free enterprise, which would extend prosperity throughout the nation. Is Mrs May up to the task? Lord Lexden

Director, Conservative Political Centre 1988-97

London SW1

SIR – The Prime Minister should take inspiration from her namesake, the author Winifred May.

She wrote under the pen name “Patience Strong”. Ged Martin

Youghal, Co Cork, Ireland