Boris Johnson's vision of a happy Britain: greedy squillionaires trying so very hard not to flaunt their wealth; and wondering which worthy public project to trickle their largesse down on to (Greed is good: Boris invokes Thatcher spirit, 28 November). If Johnson's definition of a successful economy is one that will always produce monstrously skewed inequality of income, perhaps most people would prefer not to have a successful economy. How about a respectable economy, where fairness is a wholesome notion; or a reasonable economy, which doesn't have rapacious excess at its heart?
Dominic Rayner
Leeds
• Apparently, "greed is good" once again. So the next time a trade union demands a pay increase for its low-paid members, and the Tories claim it is being greedy, can I assume this will be intended as a compliment?
Professor Pete Dorey
Bath
• I welcome Boris Johnson's speech. He has done more to show the true nature of the Tories than the Labour party has managed to achieve since being in opposition.
Jake Fagg
Bristol
• Hold on, aren't greed and envy two of the seven deadly sins? No doubt Boris and many of his supporters will be cosily sitting in their church pews this Christmas. May I suggest hypocrisy be tucked in his handbag as the eighth deadly sin.
Sheila Rigby
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
• Boris Johnson should spend more time studying history. Pressure from Conservative-supporting parents whose children didn't succeed in the grammar school entrance exam were a powerful influence in the development of the comprehensive system. It was the Conservative minister, Sir Edward Boyle, who made it possible to change the age of transfer to secondary education, so making it easier for Leicestershire and the West Riding of Yorkshire to abolish grammar schools. He also set up the Plowden committee, which reported in 1967 (Children and Their Primary Schools) that, depending on the age at which the check was made, from 10% to 20% of children were misplaced by the 11-plus examination.
Professor Norman Thomas
St Albans, Hertfordshire
• Alexis Tsipras's fine rallying call (Comment, 28 November) reminds us of the Red Cross findings that "Europe's humanitarian crisis is unlike anything experienced in 60 years, with 120 million people enduring conditions of extreme difficulty". While on the front page Boris – aren't I a one – Johnson brays in favour of the economic theory that created this disaster. God help us if ever he realises his fantasy. And what precisely does he mean by "human beings … already very far from equal [in] spiritual worth"? Never mind Thatcher, is this Ayn Rand speaking?
John Airs
Liverpool
• May I be the first to introduce the term eujohnics?
PC Hall
Hatfield, Hertfordshire