Electorate will decide on Suella sacking

car models now too big to fit in the average UK parking space and occupying an increasing chunk of our already cramped urban streets. This is fittingly called ‘autobesity’.

SUV adverts lure us in with wide open roads and clear skies when this is not reality and not sustainable.

The motor industry wants to push these models instead of smaller cars because they generate the most profit.

Are we driving ourselves to destruction in order to line the pockets of vehicle manufacturers? Helen Fairhurst

Exeter, Devon to similar countries showed the government is spending far below average on healthcare per person.

This means that we have proportionally fewer nurses and doctors than other similar countries. We have fewer CT and MRI scanners than in any other of the countries studied. The number of hospital beds is the second smallest. Access to dental care is, as we all know, ‘worryingly threadbare in some areas’.

The consequences of underinvestment are, literally, deadly.

Our life expectancy is now the second worst among the 19 similar countries. We have higher-thanaverage fatality rates for heart attacks. Survival rates for many commonly occurring cancers are below average.

The NHS’s dedicated staff are being pushed beyond their limit, leading to burnout and dropout. The lack of equipment and people in the NHS led to more deaths when Covid struck.

An NHS leader has been quoted as saying: “We have essentially had 10 years of managed decline. This is not a Covid problem. This is an austerity problem.” Yet the underfunding continues. NHS providers have recently asked for £1 billion, but have been granted only £100 million of new money.

A different way is both possible and critical. The Labour Party plans to reform healthcare by placing a greater emphasis on prevention, which is better than cure.

More services would be available on our doorsteps, allowing more of us to be treated in the comfort of our homes. The workforce would be expanded by training, each year,

ANYONE can see that our current Prime Minister is really struggling to retain popular support.

From an appointed previous PM who resigned over the Brexit result being hoisted onboard, to a Foreign Secretary, reeks of a current PM who is desperate to garner current flavour to preserve his position of power before the nation expresses its opinion in 2024 as to his party’s competence.

At least he got one thing right – getting rid of Suella Braverman. But... there are so many “promises” unachieved! Next year promises to be a season of new promises, new pledges, new policies... new honesty? We await the outcome!

Bob Gelder By email