Boris Johnson’s jester act is no longer working on the British public

Send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I read your 1 September editorial (“With a slump in the polls, Boris Johnson has no choice but to take brewing discontent with his leadership seriously”) with interest and agreement that our often absent prime minister is not hitting the spot with his MPs, party members or indeed the general public.

The struggles ahead concerning Covid-19 and the dire Brexit trade-deal negotiations are crises waiting to happen. Of course, there is a place for an upbeat mantra but somehow the rationale behind Boris Johnson’s “sunny side of the street” attitude lacks provenance and credibility. His vacuous jests are now tedious and bear little resemblance to what life in Britain is like for many people at present.

He needs to exude gravity and seriousness, perhaps with a light touch but at least cut the gags and begin the torturous rebuilding of this country’s reputation which has indeed been sadly decimated by this pandemic. He needs to show humility and a desire to build bridges, not least with the civil service, whose staff must be so demoralised. Only a weak administration would throw out so many initiatives to “divide and rule”.

I also totally agree that holding onto Dominic Cummings like a drowning man sent out all the wrong signals and Johnson himself has been caught in that “hard rain” which his chief adviser sadistically promises for everyone else.

Judith A Daniels
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

The Brexit we deserve

The UK had been a member of the European club for many years. We sat on the committee, made friends with other members, paid our subscription and benefited generally from the experience. Then we decided to get stroppy about some aspects of policies being followed.

We stamped an indignant British foot and stomped out; now we want the benefits of membership without paying the subs. We are apparently insisting on dictating rules, enjoying various discounts and continuing to drink at the subsidised bar.

The British need to be reminded that we have left the club and are in no position to make any demands. We are now just a small island off the coast of mainland Europe.

I am not surprised agreements cannot be reached. We deserve to be ignored and suffer the consequences of hard Brexit.

Steve Edmondson
Cambridge

Charlie Hebdo

If you’ve set foot in a train station recently you will have seen a large benign cartoon face reminding you to wear a mask. Even more recently there have been reminders that there are some people with hidden disabilities who are not able to follow these guidelines. That is to say that we should not judge others or approach people angrily demanding compliance. People need reminding to be considerate and non-judgmental. The Quran instructs Muslims, “Take to forgiveness, and enjoin kindness...”, and, “Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others…”.

Those who carried out the attacks on Charlie Hebdo have not a thread of support in Islam, their actions are the antithesis of those of a Muslim as prescribed by Quran teachings. They deserve whatever the French state deals them.

The importance of and need for kindness has been keenly felt during this pandemic and has probably saved countless lives. But the republishing of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad feels like a provocation – the dousing of salt onto an open wound of the millions of peaceful Muslims who will take no recourse but to turn to prayer.

Kindness seems to be extricated from a decision to republish but so too does truth. If Donald Trump can use unfolding events to portray an alternative reality in real time it does not seem so far-fetched that Muhammad’s character has been maligned over the years by a media which has not shown itself to judge Islam by its teachings, but by the actions of a minority of supposed adherents.

Munazzah Chou
Address supplied

Covidiots

Never has the appalling modern concept of the demand for rights without responsibility been more apparent than with Covid-19.

Wearing protective masks is not the solution but they certainly help. The idea that someone has a right not to wear one due to an entitled feeling of being stripped of individual rights is disgustingly selfish, and downright stupid. What about the rights of those who wish to have their lives protected from a deadly infectious disease?

Instead of giving these offensively antisocial imbeciles the trendy name of “covidiots”, they should be termed “pro-death criminals”. Deliberate disobedience of this vital public safety rule should be punished by hefty fines, obligatory quarantine and community service.

Matt Minshall
Brittany, France

The exams chaos isn’t over

Putting exams back by a short period (“GCSE and A-level exams could be delayed in 2021, says Gavin Williamson”) won’t add much teaching time to compensate for months lost.

An alternative solution is for exam boards to reduce the scope of the GCSE and A-level syllabus in most subjects, for example, fewer set texts in English Literature. Pupils can then have a fair, rigorous examination with none of the disruption that exam delay would cause.

Alan Pack
Canterbury

Preserving Sheffield’s history

Joined Up Heritage Sheffield is a charity promoting the conservation, protection and preservation of heritage within Sheffield and the surrounding areas. We urgently need a conservation area in Castlegate and the Wicker to stop the whole fabric of the area being ruined. Sheffield central library is also still under threat – it served during the Second World War and dates back to the 1930s.

It is very bizarre that the council seems to want to delete this part of Sheffield’s civic history. It should be saved for future generations.

NJP Artridge
Sheffield