SIR – Many readers of the Worcester News will be impressed by Boris Johnson’s pledge to spend billions of pounds on the infrastructure of this country to avoid the downturn of jobs which is likely after the pandemic has passed.

Sounds good but hang on? Where is he going to get the tradespeople to do it? There is an extreme shortage of building and civil engineering tradespeople in the country already. Building and civil engineering has, for many years, been supported by tradespeople from the EU who have now gone home due to the attitude of the English towards ‘Bulgarian bricklayers and Polish plumbers’.

All gone back to their own countries where wages are rising but the exchange rate with the pound means they are earning less to send home.

Let’s train English youngsters. I hear many people say? But English youngsters don’t want to get their hands dirty. They have had the opportunity through apprentice schemes for years.

This is just another example of political theatre by Boris Johnson who keeps promising but never achieves. Remember the ‘world-beating app’ and many other promises that always seem not to happen.

The latest sacking of the top civil servant in No 10 and replacing him with a political appointee is just the latest slide towards autocracy, probably engineered by Dominic Cummings who is probably running the country in reality.

Terry James

Drakes Broughton