Right is wrong
Sir: Katy Balls’s article ‘Survival Plan’ (4 May) starts from a false premise. The problem is not Rishi Sunak, but the current Conservative party’s underlying ethos. With Brexit, the lunatics took over the asylum. The ‘Get Brexit Done’ single-issue election resulted in a Conservative party, cabinet and parliamentary majority sharing populist right-wing views and convinced that the country supported them in all their beliefs.
Although Brexit has clearly failed and Boris Johnson has been disposed of, many of the underlying convictions associated with the Brexit philosophy remain. The obvious demonstration of this was the disastrous election of Liz Truss as leader despite the common sense warnings of Sunak at the time. Sunak is now trapped by the ideologically led Rwanda policy, which the party won’t let him escape from.
Just as Labour has regained the centre ground by purging Jeremy Corbyn’s beliefs and policies, so the Conservative party will have to rid itself of a mindset doomed to repeat past mistakes. A spell in opposition will give it the opportunity to do so.
Bob Calver
Burnham on Crouch, Essex
Bursting the burble
Sir: Damian Thompson (Arts, 4 May) asks for a ‘burble-free’ classical-music radio station. He need look no further than SRG SSR Radio Swiss Classic. Having sought refuge from Radio 3’s tiresome output, many of us enjoy its simple formula of playing classical music, without jazz, news, weather or any verbose interruptions. Its only fault is that it doesn’t have Andrew McGregor presenting Record Review on Saturday afternoons.
Ben Hughes
Woodgate, Norfolk
Grandmother’s footsteps
Sir: Mary Wakefield’s article evoked many memories (‘In defence of my Victorian childhood’, 4 May).
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