WE have still got several weeks of the Tory party leadership contest to endure, with their endless promises of tax cuts, uncosted and unrealistic spending promises not to mention the obligatory right wing sound bites.

Meanwhile both candidates have remained tight-lipped about their party’s underlying legislative programme – namely their Elections Bill, which will disenfranchise the poorest voters, the Health and Social Care Bill which will allow private healthcare providers to sit on the boards of NHS trusts to prepare them for more privatisation, and the Police and Crime Bill which will severely restrict the right to protest. Not to mention their plans to sell off Channel 4 or the ongoing battle to be allowed to send refugees to Rwanda. It seems like parliament will be too busy taking our liberties away to debate measures which would help people get through the biggest cost of living crisis in history.

In a few weeks the deckchairs on the Titanic will have been rearranged and we will have a new leader, but neither of them are prepared to acknowledge what peril the country is in, with all the economic and social indicators in the red, let alone take any steps to address them. I had hoped for a shred of humility but all we will get is more hubris.

Doug Clark

Cononley