The civil service is not the only group living in a climate of fear and suspicion

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I agree with John Rentoul when he says “a climate of fear is not the way to get the best out of the civil service” but I would go further and suggest that it is not the way to get the best out of anyone.

Living in fear for one’s survival raises levels of anxiety but although the adrenaline rush may have some impact in the short term, it is no way to assure long-term sustainable quality performance.

The problem we have with the present government is that none of our “leaders” have had much leadership experience. From the top down, members of the cabinet have never had to lead organisations and have no experience of knowing how to get the best out of people by inspiring confidence, giving clear directions, showing human qualities (including fallibility) and encouraging others to exercise initiative by giving them the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions.

The prime minister’s leadership has been characterised by ceding responsibility to his principal adviser to make decisions, keeping his head down when the going gets tough and surfacing occasionally to spout insubstantial bluster. He has a track record of behaving in these ways in his previous roles.

Leaders need to trust people who need to trust their leaders in return. What we have is a climate of fear and blame where people are forever looking over their shoulders and having to watch their backs. In a time of existential threat to our lives and culture, the last thing we need is a climate of fear and insecurity.

Graham Powell
Cirencester

A simple answer

May Bulman’s article describes how people are “baffled” by the UK’s failure to accept refugees since 12 March when there is no practical or logistical reason for it.

Sadly, there is a simple explanation – it is that the government wishes to be seen to have “taken back control” and is lacking in morality and compassion.

Susan Alexander
South Gloucestershire

Another view on the matter

The charity organisations are right. The death of migrants is due to immigration policies but not in the way they believe. If people choose to leave their homes in Africa and Asia and risk their lives it is not a European problem but that of the governments of the countries of origin who callously ignore looking after their citizens. Each country has to be responsible for its own people.

The vast majority of migrants are not persecuted or escaping conflicts but simply seek a better life in west Europe. They have no intention of staying in the first safe country reached as required by international law or even in eastern Europe. They have no moral or legal right to live in west Europe, which is their sole destination, where they have been told by trafficking gangs that if they manage to land on our shores they will be able to stay forever.

It is a never-ending scenario. Britain and the EU have to put an end to migration and deport all illegal migrants especially when we face the Covid-19 crisis. It is the only solution to prevent more migrant deaths and save Europe from economic and social upheaval.

Peter Fieldman
Madrid

A disappearing act

Boris Johnson disappears every time there is a “crisis”: at the beginning of the pandemic, and during the exam results mess for which Gavin Williamson avoids all accountability. Hancock likewise has no qualifications in healthcare unless you count going to the pharmacy with a cold. None of them have the knowledge and skills to act competently. Johnson has no idea what mental health is, yet talks about being back at work being “good” for your mental health. He talks about “moral imperatives” whilst having none himself.

The whole party is permeated by racism, sexism (having female MPs is not an indicator of a lack of sexism). MPs were given £10,000 towards their office budget for technology needed to work from home yet only offer £13 a day “extra” to people struggling financially. This is the worst bunch of sociopaths ever (I’m being polite). Now we get workshy Johnson telling people to get back to work or be “vulnerable” to losing your job? This from him? Disgusting and disgraceful. If I was a pirate, I’d send them all a “black spot”.

R Kimble
Leeds

The impossible

Ivanka Trump said at the Republican National Convention that her father “isn’t deterred by defeatist thinkers. The word impossible, well, it only motivates him”.

I wish that her father would be motivated to do the impossible: sow harmony between people no matter their colour, politics or circumstance; address the chasm between wealthy and poor (supporting progressive taxation); admit to the reality of environmental damage to life; consider the quality of the air Americans breathe, the water they drink, the food they eat, the healthcare and education the state provides, and how these things could help them live long, healthy lives.

Could he do the impossible? Could he steer America to become a great nation that honours the collective good ahead of individual greed? I doubt it. But I suspect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could give it a try.

Alison Hackett
Co Dublin

The liberal reality

Sir Ed Davey exhorts the Liberal Democrats “to wake up and smell the coffee”.

If an American cliche is the best Sir Ed has to offer, Sir Keir and Boris have little to fear.

John Doherty
Stratford-upon-Avon