How quickly the Tory-supporting newspapers reverted to type, and quietly let Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings off the hook. Johnson says it’s time to move on. That’s been his mantra all his life. Trash a restaurant as a student – move on. Make a career of lying journalism – move on (but with plenty of money in the bank). Cheat on your wives – deny it, move on. Get your girlfriends pregnant – deny it, move on. Worst foreign secretary for a century – laugh, tell a joke in Latin, move on. Campaign for Brexit, which will destroy our economy, unity and position in the world – tell lots of lies, move on.

Two factors throughout Johnson’s life – lies and arrogance. Both have been on full display this last week. Meantime, Matt Hancock – responding by laughing during an interview on Sky – showed that arrogance in this government of incompetents is not just confined to Johnson, Cummings and Gove. Don’t ever think the Tories are here for your benefit. Like their Republican party cousins in the US – whom they now resemble – this Tory government is all about elitism, selfishness and power.Garth GroombridgeSouthampton

• In view of the refusal of the prime minister to recognise the feelings of the people of the UK and many of his MPs regarding the apparently perverse lockdown decisions and the inconsistent explanations given by his special adviser, am I the only person asking questions regarding the current health of our political leader?

I suffered an episode of Covid-19 about three weeks before Boris Johnson, and even now I remain lethargic, with reduced capacity for sustained work. Such experiences are common in those recovering from this devastating virus. Looking at his features, growing ever more tired and worn on TV each night, it would be easy to conclude that he needed a longer period of convalescence and should stand aside again to allow others to step into the leadership role and take the difficult decisions required, be they the future of a disgraced special adviser or the introduction of a potentially intrusive but essential track-and-trace system.Dr Jim FordConsultant occupational physician, Southport, Merseyside

• There was something distasteful and frighteningly Trumpellian about Boris Johnson’s refusal to let journalists question Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance on the Cummings affair (Boris Johnson brushes off Tory revolt over Dominic Cummings, 28 May). There was nothing political about the questions, as Johnson claimed when blocking the questions to Whitty and Vallance. It is the PM and his cabinet who have transposed this critical public health matter into a political issue, with their farcical defence of Cummings.

Is Johnson sliding down the slippery slope towards actually barring uncomfortable questions from the press? Journalists have already been accused of spreading “false news” re Cummings, so what next? George Orwell said: “Freedom of the press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticise and oppose.” Even more crucial is its freedom to question and investigate.Natalie CohenGlasgow

• Surely the expression “lay doggo” refers to someone keeping their head down, staying quiet. It is a strange term to apply to someone lying on their sickbed (Quarantine article by Dominic Cummings’ wife reported to regulator, 28 May). What was going on in the head, or the subconscious, of Mary Wakefield – an experienced journalist – to cause her to use that phrase in that context about her husband, Dominic Cummings?Francis BlakeLondon

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