Readers' letters: War is no excuse for Johnson to stay

It is striking to note the spurious argument that because there is war in Ukraine this means that the Prime Minister should remain in office.

This is a man who has broken the law, the first Prime Minister in office to do this, as well as lying to Parliament

History highlights that on numerous occasions we have replaced the Prime Minister in wars we have been directly involved in.

For instance, in May 1940 Neville Chamberlain resigned after the failure of British efforts to liberate Norway. In December 1916, at the height of the First World War, Lloyd George replaced Herbert Asquith. More recently Mrs Thatcher resigned in November 1990, with Iraq invading Kuwait in August of that year, which led to the Gulf War.

Add to this, changes to Prime Ministers during the war in Afghanistan, the Second Boer War, the Second Opium War and the Crimean War, changing a Prime Minister in a time of conflict is clearly not unprecedented.

Those who make the law cannot be seen to be breaking it and it is scarcely credible that Mr Johnson, who has now lost the final fragments of any moral authority, can carry the confidence of the country and remain in office.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh.

Cladding fears remain at Sick Kids

The Grenfell Tower conflagration killing 72 people in the most horrendous circumstances was in June 2017.

Edinburgh’s new Sick Kids Hospital was “fully operational” in March 2021, but with cladding components similar to Grenfell’s and the hospital not “fully compliant” with building and fire safety standards due to the distance between cavity barriers (20 metres, not 10). Even now after a further year, compliance checks are still in progress.

How many other not-yet-discovered corners were cut and rules bent? How did no-one notice during those 45 months, among the architects, designers, specifiers, surveyors, main and sub-contractors, planning and building control officers, or relevant NHS staff?

John Birkett, St Andrews.

Divisive new law will split SNP vote

As a life-long supporter of Scottish Independence, I’m cancelling my SNP membership because Nicola Sturgeon has chosen to support extremist gender ideology over the safety of women and girls.

Many women I know have done the same. Women and girls are entitled to single sex spaces under the Equality Act 2010, and trans people are also entitled to protection - not, however, at the expense of women and girls.

Most people are unaware that women are already having to share prisons with biological males, some of them murderers and sex offenders. If the SNP are so confident that no one will abuse gender self-ID, why do twice as many men identify as women in prison than outside it?

At a time when rape statistics have reached an all-time high, Sturgeon has branded concerns about mixed-sex school sports, changing rooms and toilets as bigotry, and refused to listen to concerns.

Critics of gender self-ID want protection for women and trans people. Gender dysphoric people are not the issue, predatory men are – look at stalking and child grooming statistics, Nicola.

Sturgeon seems to have lost interest in indep-endence, instead pushing through a divisive new law which will split SNP voters. No wonder the Scottish Tories are making protection of women and girls a key aspect of their election campaign. Talk about an own goal. Nicola.

G Bell, Leith.

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