Europe is not experiencing the same shortages as the UK – funny that

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The UK is facing petrol station closures (Getty)

I have been on holiday in France for the last two weeks. I would like to report that here there are no empty shelves in supermarkets, the petrol stations are all open, there are no threats to the supplies of meat and carbonated drinks, Covid cases are running at about 6,000 new cases a day and the French press do not seem over-exercised about the rise in energy prices and huge increases in the cost of living.

The British government is spinning all the problems facing the UK as also being worldwide, when palpably they are not. The truth is that most of the difficulties are the direct result, or have been exacerbated by, the policies of Boris Johnson and his government. They are the consequence of Brexit, the inept handling of Covid or actions such as withdrawing the UK from the internal energy market or allowing, despite the obvious strategic risks, Centrico to close down 70 per cent of the UK’s gas storage capacity.

M T Harris

Address supplied

Light the lamps

If my parents were still alive, I’d be popping over to the old family home in Bexleyheath to ask them for some of the hurricane lamps and candles, which were still in the loft from the early Seventies (confession: I did not clear out the loft entirely). Then again, looking at the desperate lack of fuel around here, I probably haven’t the means of actually getting there.

Welcome to the developing world, I suppose.

Robert Boston

Kingshill

Universal credit cut

It has been striking to note the government’s continued insistence on cutting £20 a week from universal credit next month. Such a cut is morally repugnant and pursued without regard for those who will be impacted. It is one of the most callous and vindictive acts pursued by any government in modern times, which disregards the impacts on the poorest in our society.

There has been no justification for this, no study undertaken on the impact of the cuts, and because of the coronavirus crisis and rising fuel and food costs, this will inevitably push hundreds of thousands of families into poverty. Many peoples’ lives and livelihoods still hang in the balance and a choice will have to be made for a number between heating and eating.

The welfare state was founded on the principles of abolishing squalor, want, disease, ignorance and idleness. We are currently very far removed from these well-intentioned principles.

Alex Orr

Edinburgh

Back to the coalface?

It is a sad fact that this country, which launched the industrial revolution, has become a negative nation of objectors. We need coal and a new coal mine would not only provide all the coal we need without importing it and at the same time allow us to make a profit for the country by selling the surplus.

Shale oil and gas, which has been a huge success for America, sits underground while we import gas and electricity from unreliable countries in Europe. When will we face the facts, use common sense and make the right decisions?

Colin Bower

Nottingham

Climate fears

You report that “half of young people think ‘humanity is doomed’ in sweeping survey on climate anxiety” (News, 14 September). And so it is. The effects of manmade climate change are with us now, yet mainstream politicians seem frozen by fear and denial. Even those who recognise the danger make only hollow promises and fatuous speeches while carrying on with their destructive policies behind the scenes.

While we are all in this together, as always the wealthy and privileged will manage to avoid the worst of the deprivation.

Steve Edmondson

Cambridge

Boris Johnson is no comedian

How, in all conscience, can self-respecting Tory MPs and Conservative party members allow their party and our country to be led by someone who, to an international audience, “quotes” a frog puppet and claims we should all “grow up”. He fails as a stand-up and fails as a statesman, as the silence that met Johnson’s silly remarks confirms.

Beryl Wall

London W4