The Tory leadership debate showed the incompetence and narcissism of all our PM hopefuls

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Monday 17 June 2019 16:05 BST
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Jeremy Hunt taunts Boris Johnson for hiding from media and demands he face rivals in TV debates

Have you ever seen such a bunch of useless, inept, insightless people as those five taking part in the Channel 4 “debate last night? Leaving aside the pathological avoidance of Boris Johnson, the level of denial on display was staggering: promising to mend society with its child poverty, reliance on food banks, veteran homelessness, poor mental health access and so forth when their party’s actions have caused it all in the first place.

Do they have no sense of responsibility or remorse? Asked about their weaknesses we got “impatience” (Gove, an opportunity to grandstand followed), “being stubborn” (Javid, ditto) and “not knowing enough about the outside world” (Stewart, huh?). How about “I have no qualifications whatsoever to do this job”?

Several inaccurate statements were made about mental health, with them constantly confusing it with mental illness (they are not the same). Cue another weakness: lack of knowledge. You may have been an “entrepreneur”, Hunt, but you were a disaster at health and social care and you are the cause, with your complete lack of qualifications (like Hancock) of the current problems.

The narcissism on display was also staggering regarding their alleged achievements. How they said what they did mattered more than what they said: big wide, honest, trust-me eyes (Hunt); acting like a defence lawyer in an American cop drama by looking at the audience, arms open and beckoning (Gove, Stewart), looking directly at the camera (Gove)... It was pitiful – and they sit in judgement on us “ordinary” folk ?

R Kimble
Leeds

And silent Boris is no better

If Boris Johnson is chosen as prime minister by the Tory party he will wreak havoc in the country and will be a disaster for the ordinary people of Britain. His track record as foreign secretary shows clearly that he does not deserve to be prime minister.

He messed up the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and she is still languishing in an Iranian jail. He has ridiculed Muslim women, calling them “letter boxes”. He did not keep his promises as the lead campaigner of Brexit about allocating the NHS with £350m per week. He had no policies in place about Brexit to negotiate with the EU. Everything was in the air.

He did not tell the people about the current pitfalls we are facing today in getting Brexit through. Leaving the EU was not a walk in the park. Yet surprisingly the majority of Tory MPs are supporting him and have made him the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May in July. One can only dread where he is going to lead the country and its economy.

Looks like it will be down the slippery slope. He is a dishevelled entertainer and is not a mature and serious leader. He can provide laughter to the people and his supporters but later they will end up in tears.

It is time now for concrete action to be taken by all the democratic forces and parties to stop him from damaging the country before it is too late to retrieve the situation.

Baldev Sharma
Harrow

If Johnson can’t speak now, why would we trust him at all?

If, as seems to be the case, you cannot currently trust your candidate to open his mouth in public, will you be able to trust him to do so if he becomes prime minister?

If so, why?

If not, are you happy to spend at least the next three years keeping him in a cage and filtering all his output?

David Watson
South Oxfordshire

Why I’m not optimistic about Brexit

I am rather confused, like so many I guess, on how the government will deliver Brexit. Some prime ministerial candidates are talking of crashing out of the EU (no deal), which could mean the UK will be under enormous economic pressure until it gets back on its feet.

However, the government is currently in never-ending disagreements – and during such a very important time in history, there is no clear leadership material in any of the candidates.

In order to manage the situation (no deal) they have to be united, which clearly they aren’t. I don’t have a good feeling about this.

K N Majdalani
London W8

The best Conservative candidate wasn’t in the debate

Not being a Conservative voter I don’t fancy any of the candidates, but if I did have a say it would be Larry the Downing Street cat!

I’m sure he will do a better job.

Phil Hall
Northampton

Our economic structures need to catch up to the needs of the planet

Contemporary capitalism is an outmoded, EU-entrenched ideology that for the large part forbids support of national industries by national governments.

The EU commission and parliament should recognise that, because of climate change and the loss of wildlife, economic priorities are changing and it would be a good time for the EU to facilitate the introduction of national versions of the Green New Deal, which is widely supported by European political parties.

Geoff Naylor
Hampshire

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