Does the country need another three weeks of the Tory leadership contest?

SIR – As the country struggles with multiple serious problems, the Government is in a state of torpor.

The Conservative leadership contest seems to me to be a self-indulgent nonsense. It should either be suspended, or the vote urgently brought forward.

It is outrageous that Britain should be rudderless while awaiting the decision of a tiny proportion of the population.

Leslie W King

Liverpool

SIR – Wherever I look in the Government these days, I see a shambles.

The only long-term decision it appears to have made in the last 10 years was to build HS2 – and that money could have been spent on something more useful.

Now two members of this Government want me to vote for one of them. I think not. I’ll leave it to MPs to sort out the mess they have made. Adair Anderson

Selkirk

SIR – Lord Frost (Comment, August 11), as always, hits the nail on the head.

When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, we were reeling from 26 per cent inflation, government bonds yielding 16 per cent and a marginal tax rate of 83 per cent.

When she immediately cut that rate to 60 per cent a great cheer went up, and we began the restoration of personal and business confidence, which revitalised the economy.

The entrepreneurial spirit unleashed by the policies of small government, individual freedom and low tax rates is still there. We need exactly what Lord Frost suggests: Liz Truss making the case “that countries are stronger where people keep their own money and decide things for themselves” – and then doing something about it.

Donald R Clarke

Tunbridge Wells, Kent

SIR – I agree with Jonathan Wainwright (Letters, August 11).

Seeing Rishi Sunak in Hampshire, and hearing him deal effectively with Andrew Neil and Nick Robinson in interviews, I feel he has the energy and grasp of detail to get to grips with this country’s many problems. He will have my vote.

Dr Peter Evans

Swanmore, Hampshire