Listless Conservatives

SIR – One of the most frustrating things about the triumph of Labour’s populist mania in recent months is the Conservatives’ seeming unwillingness even to resist it.

Railway renationalisation is a case in point. This is a popular policy for Labour, and it is widely believed to be an accepted fact that seizing British railways will make delays and busy peak-time carriages disappear.

However, it is a statistical fact that Britain’s privatised railways are safer, with fewer accidents, and are actually more punctual than their state-owned counterparts in France and Germany. All this is achieved with less public subsidy.

This is a simple counter-argument to make, yet time and again Conservative spokesmen have not even tried to challenge Labour’s assumptions. Jeremy Corbyn’s empty slogans have become accepted wisdom. If Mr Corbyn gets to exact his Marxist project, the only thing to blame will be Conservative cowardice. Robert Frazer

Salford Quays, Lancashire

SIR – The Government is deemed weak because it enjoys a majority only with the support of the DUP.

Strong and stable Angela Merkel must look at Theresa May with envy while she attempts to knit together a three-party coalition to run Germany, after nearly two months of wrangling since the election.

What is it about the British that makes them consider their situation to be so bad compared with those of other countries? Alastair Macmillan

Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire