Letters: Not all independents should be drawn into left umbrella

Independents joining the Lib Dems shows opposition to Labour isn’t straightforwardly left wing (Photo: flickr/ Ramon Chiratheep)

The case of the seven independent councillors in Slough who joined the Liberal Democrats is complicated and contradictory.

They left Labour in the run up to the general election. It was partly over Gaza but also over dissatisfaction with the party more generally.

At the time, the Independents’ leader Sabia Akram said they would become “community champions”.

Less than a year later they’ve joined the Lib Dems to become a “constructive opposition” to the Tories who run Slough Borough Council.

Akram says they’d realised there was no “longevity” in remaining as independent, and no connection to national politics.

But they were courted by the Lib Dems from the outset. And they never acted as a left wing group or made an anti-austerity argument at the bankrupt council.

When the Tories cut council tax discounts for Slough’s poorest residents, the strongest opposition came from Labour. Now as Lib Dems, they say they “will not oppose sensible and sustainable measures to tackle Slough council’s financial crisis”.

It’s telling that the Tory council leader can speak warmly of how he had “worked constructively with members of the former Slough Independent Group on a number of issues”.

Perhaps a national, left alternative might have won them to a different set of politics. Perhaps. But those who’ve split from Labour are a mixed bag.

And not all of them could—or should—or drawn together under one umbrella.

Name and address supplied, London

Media lies on Israel crimes

Filmmaker Louis Theroux says anyone shocked by his documentary about the West Bank has not been paying attention.

That is true, but it’s also the case that mainstream media have not been telling the world the reality of what has been going on.

The Daily Mail newspaper coverage of Palestine is strongly  pro-Israel, as is the Times and Telegraph. The BBC is better but utterly inadequate.For example, it failed to properly report the killing of Hind Rajab, a five year old shot dead inside a car.

These things would have been shouted from the rooftops if they had been done by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Jennifer O’Brien, west London

• Sharon Osborne denounced Kneecap for “making aggressive political statements” in solidarity with Gaza.

 Is this the same Sharon Osborne who described Jeremy Corbyn as “revolting” and “repulsive” in 2019? And, she added, “I want to physically hurt this man”?

Sasha Simic, east London

Don’t be snookered-in by red scare in sport

Inevitably, the stench of racism has now entered the world of snooker with the arrival of a Chinese world champion.

All of sudden the world of snooker—that is Britain—has woken up to the danger of the “red menace from the East”. It has 11 players in the top 50 compared to 2 from Britain.

Of course, no one was complaining when Britain dominated the game almost continuously since 1926.

Leading the charge is ever so patriotic Ronnie O’Sullivan who is moving to the Middle East. And he is now a paid lackey of the Saudi Arabian state as it’s snooker ambassador.

O’Sullivan intends on setting up snooker academies to churn out British players. You seriously cannot make this stuff up.

The way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a campaign launched to change the colour of the red balls.

John Curtis, Suffolk

The liberal fightback starts now

Centrists haven’t been having a good time of it lately. In the United States, Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in last November’s presidential election.

The Democrats are nowhere to be seen now. But don’t worry—an American liberal has won an election. All hail the “liberal leaning” Pope Leo XIV—aka Robert Prevost.

The fight back for American liberalism starts now. Admittedly, the electorate isn’t very large. 

Julia Ryder, Worcesteshire