At 76, I am ready to ǀve up on this once proud country

At the age of 76 I am in serious danger of finally giving up on my country. Seventy-six years ago, when I was five weeks old, my father and six of his brave comrades were shot down over Germany in their Lancaster bomber, and all perished in defence of our country. My father and his crew knew that their country was worth fighting for, and hoped that their ultimate sacrifice was not in vain. If he could know today what our proud country has been reduced to, he would turn in his grave.

Our prime minister has now plumbed the lowest depth of his honour. Having been forced to abandon his shameful attempt to trash the Standards Committee, not to mention the integrity of the Standards commissioner, he did not even have the courage to come to the house to apologise for his behaviour. Many of his own backbenchers have been mortified by his behaviour, which is more than can be said for his cabinet, many of whom have spent the day toadying around, clearly afraid of telling the king that his clothes have disappeared.

Shame on him and shame on his disgraceful cabinet. How on earth have the ordinary people of this country allowed him to keep getting away with his corruption? He and his cabinet of chancers have brought disgrace and dishonour to our onceproud country.

WP Moore Norwich

A government for sale

It appears that the going rate for an MP’s consultancy “expertise” is generally about £6,000 per day. While this rate might sometimes be justified for genuine, knowledgeable experts in a particular field, I find it hard to understand that advice from a generalist MP or minister can be worth it.

Hard-nosed commercial organisations must expect some hefty return from such investment, which I can only think is either influence or commercially sensitive information on the operation of government. Neither of these should be for sale from honest public servants.

So I am fully behind a ban on MPs undertaking consultancy services. The time that this frees up – apparently many days per year per MP – can be channelled into what should be the MP’s full time job of representing their constituents and parliament. It is for this that we pay them a generous annual salary of almost £82,000.

Tim Sidaway Hertfordshire

Like Geoff Burnes (Is this who we voted for?, Letters, yesterday), I am dismayed that my MP, Maria Miller, has seen fit to debase herself and vote along party lines to save Owen Paterson.

Both Burnes and I are surrounded by MPs who have been morally corrupted by Boris Johnson. Their reputations are now shot to pieces; they ought to take a step back to consider whether they really are MPs that represent their constituents. It appears that their judgement – and that of 248 other MPs – of Paterson’s despicable betrayal of parliamentary procedures is such that they are happy to vote for corruption.

The new intake of northern Conservative MPs and those with slim majorities will be at risk of losing their seats at the next election. It was refreshing to hear the few MPs that voiced an opinion call into question Johnson and Paterson’s moral

compass. But of course MPs lie to save their skin, so in the words of Leslie Bricusse, “Who can I turn to?”

Keith Poole Basingstoke

Your leading article (The Commons speaker is struggling to find his voice, yesterday) and John Simpson’s letter (Chaos reigns) both point out the tragedy and the outrage of the present government’s behaviour in its self-serving indifference to democracy. In the short term our only hope is, as Mr Simpson says, the Conservative MPs. Some of them recently supported the prime minister’s latest atrocity. But they should now do the decent thing for the sake of the country, and oust their appalling leader.

They might consider that to be also the best option for their own self-interest. If voters were at last to see Boris Johnson for the incompetent, self-aggrandising populist that he is, they might boot him out at the next election. In which case some, possibly many, Tory MPs would also lose their jobs. That might be a greater risk to them than coming out and opposing the prime minister now.

Susan Alexander South Gloucestershire

Indeed, Dominic Raab, the electorate should have their say, but how often does it happen within the current rules, and how long does the electorate have to wait? It should be long before the next general election.

Philip Mitchell Winchester

Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan said it was good to have a “rich mix” in the Lords. At £3m a pop it certainly seems that it’s the rich who get to mix in this exclusive club.

G Forward Stirling

A role for refugees

The escalating crisis on the Belarus-Poland border has the makings of a humanitarian tragedy (Poland blames Belarus for migrant crisis as thousands try to cross border into EU, yesterday). Of course, Poles have a distinguished record themselves of escaping from Poland and finding refuge in another country. This happened during and after the Second World War, and continues to this day.

Nearly every European country has a history of its own people leaving. In the 16th century, thousands of Scots came to Poland and contributed positively to the life and economy of the country. Can we at least show some basic humanity and understanding? No country can cope with unlimited immigration for a limitless period, but immigration can be managed. Many, but not all, who have made these perilous journeys, have employable skills: doctors, health professionals, teachers, accountants, computer specialists and so on.

Surely, it is not beyond human ingenuity to match them to countries where there are labour shortages? Treated positively, refugees can be a positive asset to a country and make a huge contribution. We need to scrub out the fear. No human being is illegal. The situation needs to be managed with practical strategies. Ironically, the situations from which these people have fled were often caused by the greed and aggression of us in the west, as well as others, the profitable arms trade playing no small role.

Lyn Atterbury Pila, Poland

Capital punishment

How I agree with Aidan Caltieri (Manchester by train, Letters, yesterday) about the media’s obsession with London. The US is another boring favourite. All we ever get is how conveniently placed places are for access to the capital. I’m unsure why anyone sensible would want to live there.

I’m also waiting to hear (possibly naively) how a fast train service between London and the north will help to level up Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield etc. Dr Anthony Ingleton Sheffield

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