We want a sensible centred Government

MANY correspondents have, not surprisingly, expressed dismay at the recent chaotic state of the Government.

Could it be that the chaos is the result of allowing political dogma to take priority over the wider national interest?

Many observers took the view that Liz Truss was appointed PM because she appeared to be the candidate who would most likely do the bidding of the free market, libertarian ideologues of her party’s right wing.

This, by and large, is the same group that was instrumental in bringing about the economically disastrous Brexit – an ill-judged adventure that has cost our country far more per annum in lost trade, investment and influence than any financial contribution we made to the EU.

The notion that sovereign states have the freedom to do as they please without consequence is largely illusory. In the modern world, nations are, to a larger or lesser extent, dependent on one another.

Thus, world markets did not like the look of the Truss Government’s uncosted fantasy economics and the pound tanked, along with the prospect of reaching the sunlit uplands that we were promised would result from our “freedom” from the EU.

The nation is not a laboratory for political and economic experiments and, after a costly pandemic and with a war raging in Eastern Europe, even less so.

I venture to suggest that most people want their politicians to occupy the centre ground and to act pragmatically, providing stability and certainty. That is why Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing policies were rejected by the electorate and I believe it is why the wheel is coming off the right-wing bandwagon.

PJ Knowles Taunton