Polly Toynbee writes of Keir Starmer: “The venom against a man who is serious and decent, with an impressive tally of good done, is a mystery to me” (Labour could oust Starmer, he could elegantly step aside – but without a plan, it will all be for nothing, 30 December). Let me enlighten her: all those good things are overshadowed and obscured by the more conspicuous contemptible ones.
This includes sucking up (other phrases are available) to a particularly changeable and untrustworthy head of a foreign state; appeasing the financial markets at the cost of unrelieved austerity for our public services; continuing to underfund and privatise the NHS, the single thing almost all of the electorate value most highly; approving sales of arms which he must be aware may be used for war crimes; selectively criminalising protest; equivocating towards our European friends; not only failing to call out but actively seeking to appease the far right; and, in short, not leading a Labour government.
Dr Katy Jennison
Witney, Oxfordshire
• Polly Toynbee can’t understand why Starmer is so unpopular. How about the fact that he junked his platform policies shortly after members like me elected him. Or that he insulted my intelligence by declaring that there is no case for Britain rejoining the single market or the customs union. Or his inept positioning on Israeli war crimes. And his reliance on the wrongheaded direction of Morgan McSweeney.
Starmer is a poor communicator with no vision or apparent principles, and no one has any idea what he believes in. After a lifetime of party membership, I have finally given up on Labour and joined the Greens. Only a left-leaning party led by Andy Burnham would tempt me back.
Steve Smart
Malvern, Worcestershire
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