Michael Gove, interviewed by a Channel 4 journalist, said he should be allowed to replace Johnson at the leaders’ climate debate because he was “a” leader (Johnson’s absence from debate mars milestone for environmental politics, 29 November). Challenged that he was not “the” leader, he said: “Let’s not quibble over prepositions.” It appears that the former secretary of state for education has failed to master the year 3 curriculum and has made a definite article of himself.
Patricia Thorpe
Brigg, Lincolnshire
• In a school playground a six-year-old who complains “they are all saying nasty things about me and making my brain hurt” can respond by staying away and sending a parent round with a note for the head. This is not a serious option for someone wanting to keep their job as prime minister.
Geoff Reid
Bradford
• I have received many notes from parents with a reason (plausible or otherwise) for the non-attendance of a pupil at school. But I’ve never known an occasion when a father or best friend turned up volunteering to be a stand-in. Nice try, Boris.
Ann Lynch
Skipton, North Yorkshire
• We have a situation in which the UK government is threatening to review the broadcasting licence of a television station because it doesn’t like what it has done. That should be enough for it to never regain power. We certainly can’t now criticise other countries that do this. It is utterly outrageous. I wonder which newspaper they will threaten next?
Richard Bryant-Jefferies
Epsom, Surrey
• The C4 debate on climate change showed that the leaders present had far more in common than they might realise. As for the absentees, Johnson and Farage, it was their Scarlett O’Hara moment (“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!”). Their absence said it all.
Dr Katrina Easterling
University of Winchester
• That’s the final nail in the coffin for David Cameron’s husky, then.
Richard Haselgrove
East Morton, West Yorkshire
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