Only people power can save us from populism | Letters

Timothy Garton Ash has produced an excellent list of safeguards against extremism (My guide to populist-proofing your democracy – before it’s too late, 25 November). Unfortunately, they don’t work in the long term. The finest minds of the Enlightenment devised the checks and balances of the US constitution, and an authoritarian like Donald Trump brushed them aside in two minutes.Laws and regulations to guarantee good government only work if the people want them to. If they’re not bothered, then no amount of safeguarding is of much use

A public inquiry on Brexit might make it easier for us to rejoin the EU | Letters

Better late than never, Jonathan Freedland (Rachel Reeves is studiously ignoring the cause of Britain’s woes: the Brexit-shaped hole in the roof, 21 November). Brexit was supposed to “take back control” and sort out the immigration crisis. In both respects, it failed. Polish plumbers have been replaced by Afghans in asylum hotels, and the UK has forfeited the mechanism to return them to the EU. Meanwhile, with trade, investment and labour choked off, the economy grinds along at the bottom

The Green party’s policies on Israel are appealing to young British Jews | Letter

We were fascinated to read your article on the important report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) on Jewish voting patterns in the UK (British Jews turn to Greens and Reform UK as support for main parties drops, 20 November). This demonstrates that growing numbers of Jews are deserting the Labour and Conservative parties in favour of the Green party and Reform UK.As JPR points out, there is no symmetry here. The turn to Reform among Jewish voters is half the size of the growth in support for the party within the population as a whole. On the other hand, support for Greens among Jews is 900% the size of the turn to the Green party overall

No 10 dismisses claim that OBR revelations show Reeves misled public about need for tax rises in budget – UK politics live

Downing Street has brushed off claims that Rachel Reeves misled voters ahead of the budget about the state of the public finances.At the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson was asked why, in her speech on 4 November, and again in a Radio 5 Live interview a few days later, she said that the downgrade in the productivity growth forecast meant meeting her fiscal rules would be very difficult.Reeves told R5L on 10 November: “It would, of course, be possible to stick with the manifesto commitments [not to raise the main taxes]. But that would require things like deep cuts in capital spending.”Asked today if these warnings meant Reeves misled the public in the run-up to the budget about the state of the public finances, the PM’s spokesperson said: “I don’t accept that,”Asked why Reeves was claiming that there was a black hole in the public finances, when the OBR today is saying there wasn’t (see 12

Sadiq Khan recalls past abuse as he urges Nigel Farage to apologise over racism claims

Sadiq Khan has spoken of his dismay at Nigel Farage’s “desperate” denials of allegations of teenage racism as he described how his experience as a child shaped his life.The mayor of London said testimony from more than 20 individuals who made allegations about the Reform leader had summoned memories of his own past.“Being called the ‘P word’ at that age doesn’t just hurt you, it changes you,” he said. “It changes how you pronounce your name. It changes the way you talk to your friends, and it changes the way you walk down the street

Budget has preserved Starmer’s job until at least May elections, say Labour MPs

Labour MPs have said they believe Keir Starmer’s leadership is safe until at least the May elections, after a budget that avoided any major damaging measures but which few MPs believe will revive the party’s fortunes.More than a dozen previously loyal MPs told the Guardian they did not believe the budget would shift the fundamentals required for the party to beat Reform. “It only delays what is inevitable,” one minister said.On Wednesday night in the Commons after the budget, many of the cabinet did the rounds chatting to MPs, including the health secretary and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, a tacit declaration of peace after the fallout from a week of furious briefing about Streeting’s leadership ambitions from allies of Starmer.Those close to Starmer were adamant he would never have walked away had the budget fuelled more criticism of his leadership