Party fine hysteria

SIR – The complaints about “parties” at Downing Street are understandable up to a point, but some of the media coverage has gone beyond a joke.

That people were not able to visit loved ones in their final days was, of course, a tragedy; but today we are witnessing the cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians in Ukraine. The Prime Minister is helping to lead the West’s response to this carnage, and he must be allowed to carry on doing so.

Labour also needs to stop navelgazing. There is a bloody war in progress in Europe, and Sir Keir Starmer should stop trying to get at the Government at any opportunity. One wonders what his party would be doing if it were in power.

B J Colby

Bristol

SIR – A teenager who is convicted of drink driving – by however small a margin – remains ineligible to sit as a magistrate for the rest of his or her life, because those making or imposing the law must be seen to have abided by it.

That is the law created by Parliament. How can it make sense for members of this Parliament to say it doesn’t matter that the Prime Minister has broken the law because it was some time ago?

Equally fatuous is the defence that lots of teachers and nurses (allegedly) had lockdown parties. Even if that is true, teachers and nurses are not the PM. Such a comparison by MPs suggests either stupidity, desperate concern to retain their seats, a cynical rejection of the need for those in authority to lead by example, or a combination of all of these.

Boris Johnson is doubtless the life and soul of any party, even the Conservative Party, but he is not fit to remain PM, and his MPs should have the guts to sack him and find somebody with some integrity to replace him. If they fail to do so they will surely be sacked by the electorate. James N Stythe

Pewsey, Wiltshire