Drawing attention to the Tory party’s transformation from a traditional Conservative political party to a ragbag of dangerously self-interested diehards ought to be the focus of opposition to the government, rather than the irresponsible hedonism of Johnson, who looks unlikely to be leading the party into the next election.
Polly Toynbee rightly draws attention to the pervasive influence of Steve Baker MP (Fear for a party that sees Boris Johnson as too far to the left, 14 December). Opportunism, short-termism and entryism mean that a party whose leader described Ukip as “fruitcakes” and “closet racists” 15 years ago has now welcomed those same people, and also become a party where Baker and his ilk hold sway without taking any responsibility.
Les Bright
Exeter
• In her frightening article about the growing power of the extreme right within the Conservative party, Polly Toynbee omits to mention one glaring reason why this has come about. Under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party made itself unelectable, sending millions of voters into the arms of the Tories.
Thus, what Shirley Williams once called “the fascism of the left” has facilitated the rise of fascism on the right. It seems to me that the solitary hope for this country lies in an alliance of Keir Starmer’s more moderate Labour and the other progressive parties. In the dire situation in which this country now finds itself, I have never been more proud to be a centrist. Just look at what extremism, at both ends of the spectrum, has brought us to.
Alan Clark
London
• Polly Toynbee misses one vital point. The problem for the Tories, and for Labour, is that they represent such a broad coalition of views. The need for these internal coalitions is based on our undemocratic voting system. When we finally get a fair proportional system – I am an eternal optimist – the Conservatives and Labour will split into at least two parties each, on the basis of their natural factions. Then, as in most true democracies, governments formed from external coalitions between parties will become the norm in the UK. Better government will surely be the outcome.
Richard Carden
Denton, Norfolk
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