The Labour Party should be coming together – not tearing itself apart

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Jeremy Corbyn has come in for criticism from certain sections of his party (Reuters)

We hear a lot of acrimony being poured onto Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters by the right within the Labour Party.

Perhaps a little introspection and reflection on their own part, regarding the election defeat, would not go amiss.

If certain individuals had not spent so much time undermining the leader since he was elected in 2015, who knows, Labour might have won the 2017 election.

This ongoing exercise in self-destruction has frustrated many party members, desperate for a Labour government.

If factions also intend to continue undermining from within, if the leader is not to their particular tastes, then Labour will lose the next election as well.

The election defeat should be a cause for reflection from all parts of the party – not just the left. We need to unite in opposition, not tear ourselves apart.

Paul Donovan
London

Tail spin

David Hiley writes: “I always hoped I might bump into him [Tony Blair] one day and ask ‘why did you choose to join the Labour Party?’ (Letters, 26 December).

The coin he spun came down tails.

Eddie Dougall
Bury St Edmunds

A political football

The NHS should not be used as a political football between opposing political parties. It does not belong to a single party. It was born in the aftermath of the Second World War to remedy the ravages of war: squalor, ignorance, illness, injury, disease and want.

Time to preserve this great national treasure and the values it embodies.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London

Scrap NHS parking charges

The government provided some cheer, with the news that some are to be exempt from hospital parking fees. However, it does not go far enough.

Disabled blue badge holders were already exempt anyway, so nothing to see here. Staff and most visitors, are not exempt, meaning expensive trips to visit loved ones. Parking companies rake in the money and the NHS gets little from the profit there is.

The best solution, is to scrap fees altogether, right Matt?

Gary Martin
London

Hospitals and beaches

Only a Tory health minister could state in all seriousness that we have to balance need against availability when referring to hospital parking charges.

Seems like charging people for coming to hospital is now the norm. After all, we have got to discourage all these people who drive to hospitals for a latte and free parking.

No doubt the likes of Dominic Cummings of this world are looking at what else they can charge patients and visitors. How about paid lifts or charging for seating in clinics like they charge for deck chairs on the beach?

G Forward
Stirling

In two minds

The British “have always been in two minds about the EU”, says Frans Timmermans, the Dutch vice-president of the European Commission.

A bit like his compatriots, who rejected the Constitution for Europe by 62 per cent to 38 per cent in their 2005 referendum.

Dr John Doherty
Vienna