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Zahawi has gone 'running to Reform'
So, former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has gone running to Reform – the latest in a growing number of Tories who have jumped ship (Metro, Tue).
Nigel Farage has spent so long saying you should ‘never, ever’ trust a Tory – all as he scours their ranks to find members he thinks will help boost his party’s popularity. Likewise, Zahawi has said he would be ‘frightened’ to live in a country run by Farage and that he would be a Conservative until the day he died. I am curious what Farage is hoping for, though, given just how many of the former Tories he has welcomed into Reform have been ridiculed for being terrible at their job. Matthew, Birmingham
Why is Reform called Reform?
‘Reformed’ meat is a processed meat product made by binding together trimmings, scraps and oddments of dubious provenance.
Since it is mostly composed of unidentifiable components or undesirable offcuts of, for the most part, the Conservative Party, presumably this is why Nigel Farage’s latest political vehicle is called Reform UK. Julian Self, Wolverton
Reader weighs in on bus reliability and the cold chill
‘Wake up, it’s a beautiful morning.’ So sang UK indie band the Boo Radleys in their 1995 Top Ten hit Wake Up Boo!
As someone who once had to brave 5am starts and an hour’s bus journey, I’m sure it doesn’t always feel that way when you’ve been freezing your bits off at the bus stop hoping the bus isn’t going to be late again. Buses are an integral part of our public transport system yet are often overlooked. We need better standards for the early morning and late-evening commuters.
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Drivers can help by keeping doors closed to keep the heat in, ensuring the heating is on before the bus leaves the depot and leaving the vape break for the terminus or their own break.
Also, if train and rail station staff are getting bodycams, so should bus drivers – especially given they’re working alone and often in areas of high crime late at night. I would encourage drivers and passengers to write to their MPs if they agree. For now, I’m off, as it’s my stop. Matt, Wakefield
‘It can be a great city but a dangerous one’, says reader on London
Regarding London recording its lowest annual murder rate since records began. While any reduction in crime is to be welcomed, let’s see if the homicide rate in London continues to drop.
Like Robert (MetroTalk, Tue), I also have a good knowledge of the capital.
It can be a great city but a dangerous one. When you have been here as long as I have, you become accustomed to it.
My advice is to live your life – you can’t worry about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Otherwise you would go nowhere. Dec, Essex
Scotland are doing the cold weather right, says reader
Jean (MetroTalk, Mon) says it’s pavements that need gritting during cold snaps, not just roads.
I have not long been up to Scotland and as I walked around Glasgow on Friday night and Saturday morning – where the walkways are gritted – I thought exactly the same – why don’t we grit the paths where I am, down here in England? Matt, Sheffield
