Theresa May

• I AM sure the Tory councillors would like local voters to think only about the shambles Veolia made of the rubbish collection changes in Camden, but most of us are better informed and know that the need to penny-pinch and cut costs is a direct and continuing result of the pressures from the Tory government (Tories: Polls will be about bins: not Brexit, October 5).

We also know that Brexit will only make matters worse, and the referendum battle was due to the inability of the Tory party to control its rabid right wingers.

Across the whole of London the vast majority of voters want to remain in close union with our nearest neighbours, and the vote elsewhere in the country was largely about austerity and being ignored by Westminster.

And lie after lie was told by the Tories about the impact of the EU on this country. And these lies are still being repeated by the likes of Boris Johnson who is being talked about as if he was a serious politician rather than an amusing, over-educated buffoon.

But John Mills’s October 5 Forum showed the scale of the mountain to climb, and I agree that Labour’s plans need a solid economic base, and for that we need a government which will actively manage the economy, directing investment to where it is needed.

We need to rein in the free-market idiocy of the last four decades where deregulation, which led to the banking disaster and sale of vital community assets in electricity, gas, and water supply, have accelerated the decline of the wider economy.

Even Theresa May has admitted the need to be “honest about where the free market is currently not working”, and this, coupled with austerity policies, is what needs to change. She cannot do that when half her cabinet is plotting against her and the other half calls for more austerity.

If all of those “just-about managing” suddenly had enough to live on, spending would increase and the economy might start to grow instead of stagnate.

Even the writing couldn’t stay on the wall at Tory conference, but the Tories are determined to hang on as the ship sinks and the rats revolt. Call an election and let’s get some sanity.

DAVID REED, Eton Avenue, NW3