Raab’s worthless Bill of Rights has been found out

An inquiry has found that Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights legislation should be scrapped (News, yesterday). The policy has been shown to ultimately undermine our human rights laws, reduce the power of judges at odds with the government and prevent any challenge to the deportation of refugees.

Many MPs and peers can already see that Raab’s Bill of Rights would reduce the protections we already have around free speech and the powers of the courts. Simply put, it would have given the government more control to override our judicial system. No wonder the Joint Committee on Human Rights wants to stop the bill in its tracks. It is unwanted, unnecessary, discriminatory and altogether worthless.

Keith Poole Basingstoke

Weak and hypocritical

Had we had a general election when Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were disposed of – and a Labour government was installed – I imagine there would be uproar in the House over the revelations of us having record high tax and borrowing levels (News, Tuesday). Under the Tories, though, this is just the result of them taking tough decisions. Unfortunately, making tough decisions doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to dealing with ministers’ alleged misdemeanours.

Geoff Forward Stirling

Petty political point-scoring

It’s widely believed the dispute surrounding the Gender Recognition Reform Bill between the SNP and Westminster will end up in court – a dispute Nicola Sturgeon seems to have manufactured. I believe Sturgeon considers she’ll win, whatever the outcome.

In the unlikely event that the court finds for the SNP, I am sure that Sturgeon will claim she’s the champion of Scottish democracy that’s under threat from the so-awfully wicked Westminster. If Sturgeon loses, she’ll likely maintain the UK is trampling over the wishes of the Scottish people, even though opinion polls show the vast majority of Scots back Westminster’s intervention. I believe Sturgeon is using the Gender Reform Bill to score petty political points.

Martin Redfern Newby

Right move at the right time

I read Sean O’Grady’s column regarding Keir Starmer’s trip to Davos with great interest (News, Saturday). It is clear the Labour leader’s relationship with his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is proving to be a beneficial partnership at just the right time.

Obviously, Starmer has less flash than some leaders, but that is a vastly overrated attribute in this divisive and complex society we live in. Reeves appeared to be in her experienced milieu and is making her individual mark. Between them, they are being observed and noted on the economic and political stage, with appreciation that their offer may indeed be proactive and different.

I would imagine the prime minister, who did not attend, wished he had now fastened his seat belt on that plane to Switzerland!

Judith A Daniels Great Yarmouth

Ministers are failing future generations

Jess Phillips’s exposure of the way in which vulnerable children have been “lost” to the system and trafficked into unspeakably exploitive practices (Voices, yesterday) shows the depths to which we have sunk as a society. Once again, our political leaders show that they simply do not care enough about the welfare of young children in the system.

For that matter, they have little care for the future wellbeing of our young people, either. As Mary Robinson says, “we are on the brink of a precipice” with our leaders doing nothing to address issues relating to the climate crisis, arms control, or future pandemic preparedness. It is not only our children’s present lives that are under threat from the short-sighted and selfserving politicians we have in power, but the future safety of subsequent generations is at risk too.

Graham Powell Cirencester

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