By siding with Boris Johnson’s critics, Theresa May has shown herself unfit to lead the Tories

SIR – I used to think that Theresa May was a good but uninspiring woman doing her best in exceptionally trying circumstances.

However, her blatant attempt to “kneecap” Boris Johnson over his remarks on burkas (report, August 12) makes me realise that she is in fact a mendacious schemer, as ambitious and ruthless as she is incompetent.

If she is still leader at the next election, the Tories will be wiped out. For the sake of Conservatives all over the country, she must go – and quickly. John Mounsey

Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire

SIR – Many congratulations to all those criticising Boris Johnson for his humorous remark about the burka.

They have successfully taken Labour’s problems with anti-semitism off the front page. John Ley-morgan

Weston-super-mare, Somerset

SIR – I note that Mr Johnson may be sent on diversity training. Does it follow that millions of the electorate and the majority of your recent correspondents who support him should be sent on the same course?

This sort of brainwashing should be nipped in the bud before we all lose our cherished freedom of speech. Michael Ballard

Lenham, Kent

SIR – In 1905, Mr Justice Bray said to a libel jury: “Any person is entitled to say, by way of comment on a matter of public interest, what he honestly thinks, however exaggerated, obstinate or prejudiced that may be; such comment is fair and sustainable as a defence to a libel action, unless it is so strong that no fair-minded person could have made it honestly.” He was right then, and I hope he is right today.

Although Boris Johnson is a controversialist, and often appears to be as much a seeker after attention as truth, and although his opinions about Islamic dress may be offensive to some and his views about countries that ban Islamic dress may offend others, no one has suggested that his views are dishonestly held. We would be living in a strange country if every time Mr Johnson said something some find disagreeable, he was sanctioned by the courts or by the Conservative Party.

The answer to Mr Johnson is either to ignore him or to debate with him. Demanding punishment for his opinions because we do not share or understand them is medieval and un-conservative. Lord Garnier QC

London EC4

SIR – What frustrates me most about these media storms is that very few critics seem to have the patience, interest or respect to read the offending articles in full before feeling entitled to comment on them. The instinct is always to believe the worst.

It brings to mind the offence taken at Hilary Mantel’s “plastic princess” description of the Duchess of Cambridge (when her piece was in fact a critique of the media’s simplistic perception of royalty), and the vitriol shown to Lionel Shriver’s criticism of applying a quota system to the arts.

Mr Johnson has simply joined a list of great writers who are wilfully and lazily misunderstood for political and social point-scoring. Elizabeth Foster

Andover, Hampshire

SIR – Boris Johnson’s jokes about the appearance of burka-clad women are no worse than we might hear in any pub, café or comedy club.

However, he should be disciplined, because the comments are potentially incendiary, which he knows, and are certainly unbecoming of a former minister of Her Majesty’s Government. Michael Heaton

Warminster, Wiltshire

SIR – Two positive things have come out of this row. At last I know the difference between a hijab, a niqab and a burka – and I have three new words to use in Scrabble. Huw Wynne-griffith

London W8