An effective communicator? Don’t make me laugh
“An adept and effective communicator” is how Mary Dejevsky described the prime minister, Boris Johnson, in her latest piece (Politics has changed but should we try to go back? Voices, yesterday). It begged the question, an adept communicator of what?
Where was she when he announced his “world beating app” that failed, and had to do so many U-turns, like over the school meals fiasco, that I lost count. Let alone “we’ll knock this thing (Covid-19) on the head in 12 weeks” or telling Northern Ireland’s business people that “there would be no border in the Irish Sea”. And that’s just in the last year or so.
I recommend her to watch Johnson’s interview with Eddie Mair from a few years ago. I did and squirmed again with embarrassment. Nothing has changed, except he is now prime minister. The man communicates in clever quips, dubious statistics and meaningless soundbites. This is effective communication?! Words matter. Give me Sir Keir Starmer’s lawyerly honesty any day.
John Daintith Bristol
The recent article by Mary Dejevsky again brings up the whole question of a radical shake-up of the UK’s parliament. The first and most important decision should be the retirement of the existing and worn out parliamentary estate – and reallocating Westminster towards an income-generating use for which, as a centrally located historic tourist icon, it will be well suited.
Make that decision and then build a high-tech parliament somewhere in the middle of UK. Technology has given us the opportunity to make politicians truly answerable to us always – not just every five years as it suits them. Could we even have a system that if we do not feel a minister is performing we can remove them?
What a lovely thought!
Alastair Duncan Address supplied
Sir Keir Starmer is clearly an articulate and intelligent man. Indeed, why the Labour Party is constantly undermining him is a mystery to me. He is the best leader they have had. I am so impressed with him, in that he seems not to vote against the government to prove a point. He supports as and when it is appropriate. That I admire very much and I would vote for him in the next election.
I cannot support Boris Johnson again after the Brexit fiasco. When so many businesses are detrimentally affected by his deal, I expected Boris to have teams sorting out issues and by helping them to carry on trading. What a useless prime minister he has turned out to be.
I Vamplew Address supplied
Exam compromise
I think that offering the students their own teachers as examiners may be a rather extreme alternative to national examinations. I would suggest a sensible compromise, one which reduces pressure on teachers and maintains a flexible approach. Papers are passed to similar schools in nearby towns.
Cole Davis Norwich
Care needed
On Wednesday, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives by investing in the care of older and vulnerable people. In what is being predicted to be a “giveaway Budget”, he should ignore the usual vote winners and make a name for himself by tackling the financial crisis in the social care sector.
Start by giving local authorities more funds to care for older and vulnerable people and by making social care zero-rated for VAT. Then signal that the Treasury will not be in the way of the root and branch reform social care has been promised for more than a generation.
Be bold Mr Sunak, don’t tinker at the edges, pull a real rabbit from the Budget red box and change history for the 1.4 million people who aren’t getting the care they need and the rest of the country.
Mike Padgham Chair, Independent Care Group
Budget maths
Rishi Sunak apparently has a £40bn black hole to fill in the public finances. Sounds like a huge sum of money which will need ingenuity, cutbacks or tax rises to fill. However, put that up against the £22bn already spent/wasted on a test and trace system that by any measure is a failure.
G Forward
Stirling