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Boris Johnson should be treated with the same amount of criticism as Diane Abbott

Boris Johnson struggled when interviewed by Eddie Mair on Radio 4: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
Boris Johnson struggled when interviewed by Eddie Mair on Radio 4: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

I trust that after the excruciating interview with “The Man Who Doesn't Want to be Prime Minister”, the press will treat the Boris Johnson with a greater degree of criticism on par with that meted out to poor Diane Abbott. (Boris Johnson in ‘worst interview with a politician ever’ following the Queen’s Speech, 22 June).

After all, Diane only fluffed her lines over one small part of her party's policy, whereas Boris managed to demonstrate that not only had he not read the Queen's Speech, but that he hadn't even been listening when the Queen read it out.

Philip Peacock
Harrow

​Bin Brexit

As pro-Brexiters from all sides of the political spectrum delight in telling us over and over, a majority of “the people” voted for Brexit, giving the government a “mandate” to take us out of the EU and headlong over a financial cliff. But the closer you look at this “mandate”, the flimsier it seems.

First off, there's French lawyer Julien Fouchet's bid to have the referendum declared illegal for excluding expat Brits which, if successful would surely tip the balance in the Remain camp's favour.

We might also cast our eyes ahead to September, when hundreds of thousands of Brits return out-of-pocket from package holidays on the Costa del Sol thanks to the precipitous plunge of the post-Brexit pound against the euro. Is this really what a (presumably) good percentage of them voted for?

Too late to turn back? Well, maybe. But not if our elected politicians do the right thing and put the interests of country before party.

It is surely time for MPs on all sides to put party affiliation aside and consign this miserable Government and the Brexit shambles it initiated to the dustbin of history.

Rob Prince
London SE13

Uber debacle drives message home

They say it’s lonely at the top. That’s certainly the case for Uber, which has found itself without an identifiable leadership team, including a CEO.

A risk-taking culture is essential, yes. Be disruptive with your technology, bold with targets, and challenge industry norms, but you must protect and value your people at all costs. From the first hire to the 500th.

All businesses must consider scalability, but this applies to culture too. Equality and respect cannot just be the focus (or buzzwords) of big companies’ HR departments. They must be built into the foundation, not introduced as band-aid solutions. Fail to do so, and watch your team (and eventually your profits) crumble.

Hopefully Uber’s troubles drive home to business leaders just how crucial this investment in people is from day one. Growth is often unpredictable and unsteady. Before you know it, the problems could be too entrenched for a quick fix.

Robert Gryn
Address supplied

Emergency housing and spirit of the Blitz

On the matter of using luxury flats for emergency housing, my father told a story about how, when he was a teenager in London during the Blitz, his family was bombed out when one of the first V-1s landed on the house next door.

The rule at the time was that if you found an unoccupied dwelling, you could notify the authorities and move in. They found a house on Blackheath. The owner was a retired colonel who had moved to Cornwall as soon as the war had broken out. He decided to stay there after the war and my grandfather lived in that house for another 15 years.

Paul Dormer
Guilford

I am not for a moment suggesting families involved in the Grenfell fire emergency shouldn't be offered the homes in the Kensington luxury block of flats Ben Chu talks about in his analysis (Is the Government really providing luxury Kensington flats for the survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster? 22 June). But do we know if these social housing flats were already earmarked for other families who have now been dropped 68 places down the queue of people waiting to be offered housing?

If so, shouldn't the Government be looking for extra housing now they have a longer list of people to accommodate?

Derek Thornhill
​Gloucester

Rules are there to be skirted

The boys at Isca Academy in Exeter who have come to school in skirts in this week’s hot weather have learned an important life lesson; not one about gender or fashion, but that life is sweeter if you can find the loopholes in the rules (Exeter boys wear skirts to school to protest ‘no shorts’ policy in soaring temperatures, 22 June).

Otto Inglis
Edinburgh