The plain fact is that we are not going to get proper funding for social care until we see providers either exiting the market, or refusing unsustainable contracts (Letters, 7 July). This must be a warning to local authorities and the government that once this sector starts to fail it will also bring the NHS to breaking point because nobody can be discharged. At which point we hope the minister of state might finally get it into his head that social care is an essential part of the system.
Professor Martin Green
Chief executive, Care England
• So Die Welt writer Mara Delius expresses the view that Merkel, May, Sturgeon et al are coming along to “clean up the mess created by the men” (Report, 6 July). Or, as the teacher Mrs Lintott put it in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys: “History is women following behind, with a bucket.” Precisely.
Margaret Farnworth
Liverpool
• Artificial turf (Warnings of habitat loss as homeowners opt for artificial turf, 4 July)? That’s not all. What about artificial hedges, and globular pretend topiary atop unnecessarily tall gateposts of stone, concrete or pylon-like ironwork? Plastic “gardens” represent habitat loss for developing humans as well as for wildlife.
David Hambler
Bradford, West Yorkshire
• Robert Philip of Edinburgh (Letters, 6 July) should raise his sights. Nowadays, only plebs resign; the elite “step down”.
Kevin Clinton
Stockport
• Re the article by Severin Carrell (Fishermen and Sturgeon clash over Brexit, 5 July). Well they would, wouldn’t they?
John Hougham
Gravesend, Kent
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