Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Letters

Don’t let No 10 chaos distract us from damage to public services

NHS workers from St Thomas's Hospital, including ICU staff, protest at the gates of Downing Street on 14 January.
NHS workers from St Thomas’s Hospital protest outside Downing Street on 14 January. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Marina Hyde’s article (How will the great wrecker Boris Johnson break himself out of this bind?, 18 January) is the best in-depth commentary on the fallout of partygate, and makes us realise that the daily cross-questioning on our screens is far more serious than mere scandal.

As No 10’s actions become a spectator sport, the danger is that we don’t notice our NHS being bled dry, our national broadcaster being softened up for private sale, our schools hosting a virus that can be deadly and life-changing for our children, and more than £4bn being lost to fraudsters and not recouped.

Thank goodness for the House of Lords, quietly sitting it out while everyone’s eyes are on the main stage, so that Priti Patel’s policing bill is voted down and we might get to keep our right to protest (Report, 18 January). Yes, serious emotional damage has been done by the party culture that may preclude any government from ever demanding such sacrifice again. But for now, we need to maintain our vigilance to protect the services and institutions that express the integrity and compassion that is absent at the very top.
Yvonne Williams
Ryde, Isle of Wight

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.