Indecent behaviour in a civilised society | Letters

Austen Lynch says Tory policy should be vigorously fought with composure, while John Airs and Colin Arlett praise Aditya Chakrabortty’s piece on food banks and the issues at the heart of the next election

Emma Brockes (Opinion, 31 October) considers Boris Johnson’s behaviour “indecent in a way that calls for indecency in response”. This will not do. His behaviour, along with that of much of the Tory party, is indeed deeply offensive – beyond the point of indecency. Yet indecency is not a decent response to indecency. And Labour, after all, is the party of decency – of a decent health service, decent jobs, decent working conditions, decent housing, decent education and decent civil rights. Of a decent chance of a fair society. The Tories’ indecent stripping away of much of the decency of our welfare state and social infrastructure should be vigorously fought with composure, dignity and, above all else, decency.
Austen Lynch
Garstang, Lancashire

• Thank you, Aditya Chakrabortty (Food banks used to be an aberration. Now they’re in children’s books, 31 October). It would be hard to read this article and disagree that “this election is really about … how we define a civilised society”. The only voters who could possibly disagree would be those whom JK Galbraith defines as belonging to The Culture of Contentment, unconcerned about how civilised our society is.
John Airs
Liverpool

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