DONALD TRUMP is quoted as saying: “I could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and still get elected.” This also appears to ring true for the Conservative Party.

Any unbiased analysis on how effectively our Government has been in keeping the population safe during the epidemic would conclude it has failed on so many fronts.

It allowed the borders to remain open, was too late with the lockdowns, failed to provide sufficient PPE, and commissioned numerous ineffective and expensive crony contracts.

In addition, it has also misused public finances, as highlighted by the Commons Public Accounts Committee. The result is we have one of the highest death tolls in the developed world.

Going forward, we will be paying a staggering £37bn on a test and trace system, yet despite these failings the success of the vaccine roll out sees the Tory party more than 10 points ahead on the opinion polls.

For the political left it beggars belief that not only can Trump get some 70 million votes but that our Government is not being held to account. Many would say this is just politics. But there are serious dangers to our democratic process if our elected representatives vote to break international law, allow Home Secretary Priti Patel’s bullying to go unpunished, renege on the nurses pay offer, and see Boris blatantly misleading the House of Commons while at the dispatch box. To their shame, the ministers have shown no remorse, nor have any resignations been tendered.

When our democratic checks and balances fail then “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

If the Government can outvote the opposition, and openly ignore Parliamentary procedures, this will prove to be detriment of us all in the longer term. It is said we only get the government we deserve and we deserve much better than this.

Tom Parkin, Howden le Wear.