Readers' letters - May 26

It is said that Boris Johnson is a popular politician. If true, this is very worrying.

Admittedly he is funny occasionally but this is hardly a sufficient qualification to lead the country.

Like many with his education he is superficially clever but he avoids rigorous thought, does not pay attention to necessary detail, lacks understanding and, crucially, has poor judgement.

He is shameless when caught out making things up.

He was a lazy and incompetent Mayor of London.

He is ambitious because he likes the acclaim, status and winning but has little idea what to do with responsibility. It is widely acknowledged that he might have supported either side in the European Referendum campaign.

He chose to support Vote leave, not out of conviction but because it suited his ambition and his playground rivalry with David Cameron.

Yet if we, mistakenly, vote to leave the EU, he is likely to be the next Prime Minister.

Doubtless the first to congratulate him will be his American counterparts, Donald Trump and Putin.

Geoff Smith

Address supplied

energy

Fracking will get go-ahead

I don’t tend to think of myself as psychic but I have an overwhelming prediction that fracking will be given the go-ahead in the North West, not just in Yorkshire.

It doesn’t matter how many people are against it (after all, how many unpopular housing applications get the go-ahead?), how much the Government preaches about ‘localism’, or whether it is possibly unsafe or if it will be harmful to the countryside. None of this matters.

Ultimately, it boils down to this – what is more important: health and the environment or profits and money (or to use the euphemism, the economy)? Now, my gut instinct is health and the environment, but I’m not a politician, I’m not in Government and my views matter for very little in this crazy world of ours.

So what do MPs and big companies think is more important? Well, what do you think? And that is why it will go ahead, whatever the cost.

Profits is the name of our state ‘religion’ and it is ‘blasphemous’ to think otherwise.

Jane via email

charity

Feel blue for fundraiser

Harrison’s Fund’s Blue Hair Day on June 26 aims to increase awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and raise money for researchers, who are working on finding a cure for children that will not have a future due to their prognosis. Duchenne is a neuromuscular condition. One in 3,500 boys is born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the United Kingdom each year. Their average lifespan is just 20 years. As a dad of two boys with this fatal condition, I am passionate about drawing attention to this disease, which can be cured if enough money is put into the hands of the best scientists in the world. We’re asking everyone to support the campaign by:

n Donning blue wigs and asking your friends, family members and colleagues to sponsor you. Do something fun wearing your wig and raise money your own way.

n Speak to your friends and family members and get them to support the campaign.

You can also text Blue to 70660 to donate £5. Visit https://harrisonsfund.com/blue-hair-day to find out more.

Nick Taussig

Dad of two