Tory Brexit manifesto is reckless and full of holes

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/26/tory-brexit-manifesto-is-reckless-and-full-of-holes

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Letters: John Evers highlights the danger of believing Brexit will right all wrongs, while Sue Durham worries about the future of the supreme court and Geoff Wicks points to serious prison understaffing. Plus, letters from Les Bright, Clive Coen, Andrew McKeon and Caroline Roaf

Polly Toynbee’s article on the Conservative party manifesto (The Johnson blueprint: crisis, catastrophe and inequality, Journal, 26 November) has raised the issue that should dominate all others in this election – inequality. Nearly 10 years on from the Marmot review (Fair Society, Healthy Lives, 2010) and after 10 years of government-imposed austerity, which has demonstrably worsened inequality and lowered expectations of a long and healthy life, we are in serious danger of electing a Tory government that apparently believes “getting Brexit done” will usher in national salvation and right all wrongs.

Parliamentary candidates (and others): read Michael Marmot’s review, and think again. This country needs a caring government, a government that is able to address the deep divisions between the haves and the have-nots, and which regards as obscene the levels of inequality in this country.Dr John EversTruro, Cornwall

• While your coverage of the Conservative manifesto in Monday’s paper was extensive, could I just point out something that doesn’t seem to have attracted much attention: the section on page 48 of the manifesto, which promises that “after Brexit we also need to look at the broader aspects of our constitution: the relationship between the government, parliament and the courts; the functioning of the royal prerogative”. Is this the first step towards limiting the role of our supreme court in relation to the government, or an attempt to politicise appointments to it?Sue DurhamCambridge

• When are the Tories going to realise that law and order is not just more police, more prison places and harsher sentencing (The Tory manifesto: What they’re offering and what it means, 25 November)? The justice ministry has suffered some of the harshest austerity cuts under the Tories. There is an urgent need for staffing to be restored to safe levels in existing prisons and the courts restored to their former efficiency.Geoff WicksDerby

• Four months ago a cocksure Boris Johnson stood on the steps of No 10 and told us that he had a plan to fix social care “once and for all”. Now that the manifesto has been launched, it is clear that unlike other plans that are allegedly oven-ready, this one has passed the sell-by date and is unfit for human consumption. Or is this evidence that I am one of “the doubters, the doomsters and the gloomsters” he identified as holding the country back (Johnson stakes just £2.9bn in public spending gamble, 25 November).Les BrightExeter, Devon

• A reduction in the long-haul trading of goods will be essential if greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced. The more local the trading, the lower the carbon footprint. This principle is disregarded in Mr Johnson’s mantra that getting Brexit done will “unleash Britain’s potential”, referred to by Simon Jenkins (A Conservative manifesto? No, it’s the Boris Johnson show, Journal, 25 November). His vision of increased global trading is reckless and antediluvian (literally).Clive CoenLondon

• I read your coverage of the Conservative party’s manifesto and was dismayed at the lack of mention of the environment and tackling the climate emergency. Having looked through the manifesto, I see why, as the underwhelming half page on environmental protection is on page 43 of the 60-page document. No further comment needed.Andrew McKeonOtley, West Yorkshire

• With party manifestos now published, this is the moment to reflect that the next parliament is the one that must address the climate emergency. There is no other issue so important, or which affects all the others clamouring for attention so intimately.Caroline RoafOxford

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