Readers on the prime minister’s unsuitability for the office he holds, and the responsibility of the electorate to choose better
Jonathan Freedland’s analysis (Scandal upon scandal: the charge sheet that should have felled Johnson years ago, 30 April) is as timely as it is forensic, reminding the electorate that the prime minister is a serial liar, whose continuation in his role is dependent on a combination of his carefully burnished blokeish image, contempt for said electorate, and surrounding himself with sycophants, most of whom model themselves on their leader.
In such a cosy context of contempt, any demand for them to even pay lip service, let alone adhere, to the Nolan principles of ministerial behaviour is a hopeless cause. Boris Johnson made much in his pre- and post-Brexit speeches of the opportunity for the UK to present an EU-free swashbuckling image across the globe – the overall image portrayed in recent weeks and months has, if anything, trashed the country’s reputation. As Freedland rightly concludes, while such behaviour is indeed shameful, so too is the gullibility of the electorate in allowing themselves to be so readily duped. The answer lies in our hands, starting on 6 May.
Phil Murray
Linlithgow, West Lothian
