Naysayers needed
Sir: I was struck by James Forsyth’s observation that in 10 Downing Street, ‘hard truths and hard choices are too often ignored… because the Prime Minister’s top team fear he will find them uncomfortable’ (‘The battle to save Boris’, 22 January).
During a working life spent in business, I came to realise that one of the most valuable skills you could master was how to tell someone things they would rather not hear while maintaining good relations with them. If the PM is intent on firing many of his staff, it would be prudent for whoever appoints their replacements to ensure that as many of them as possible possess that ability.
Sandy MacAlister
Shiskine, Isle of Arran
Our rival’s rival
Sir: George Osborne says he is less worried about a grand China/Russia axis because of their mutual suspicion (Diary, 29 January). Sadly for us, when our rival’s rival is also our rival, they need only some common ground against us to pose us serious economic and security headaches.
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