It speaks volumes for the state we’re in when it falls to an academic, Alan Finlayson, to instruct those who practise politics on what they should do in response to the sleaze that is lapping at the door (Labour will need to do more than shout ‘Tory sleaze’, 27 April). The relative ease with which ministers and officials have brushed off perfectly reasonable requests to comply with the rules, follow the regulations, publish declarations of interest and so on should not go unchallenged. But the focus has to be on how we got to this state, not whether the Johnson-Symonds taste for unnecessary interior renovations is excessive. It’s too late to expect Boris Johnson to act with restraint in any part of his life – whether it’s how he spends public money, the language he uses to deal with uncomfortable questions or the company he keeps. However, he won’t be our last prime minister, so those who value democracy must act now to protect it. Les Bright Exeter, Devon • In an eloquent appeal for a reform of governance to tackle the current sleaze crisis, Prof Alan Finlayson says Labour should support “regional political and economic powers; and a proper electoral system”. Might he spell out what he means? There are many European nations with regional government and a “proper electoral system”, whatever that means. Many of them are bywords for corruption, political-business backscratching, insider contracts, enfeebled media, and an enrichissez-vous political class. Generalisations about regional politics and electoral reform are too easy. Labour and the nation(s) need specific, well-thought-through alternatives that will command support in the ballot box. Dr Denis MacShane Former Europe minister • The comparison of Boris Johnson to Bertie Wooster that Alan Finlayson refers to is wrong. Wooster may well have been a hapless, privileged toff who was reliant upon others to extricate him from a series of self-inflicted misadventures, but any similarity to Johnson ends there. In The Code of the Woosters, Bertie recognised his own shortcomings and accepted his limitations. He was not a racist, a misogynist, a liar and a cheat. Martyn Taylor Newark, Nottinghamshire • People who want to dismiss controversies about what Johnson did or didn’t say as Westminster tittle-tattle that the public aren’t interested in (Pressure mounts on Johnson over alleged ‘let the bodies pile high’ remarks, 26 April) should speak with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard Ratcliffe. The significance of Johnson’s careless, inaccurate language in her imprisonment in Iran should not be forgotten as her ordeal is extended for another year (Iran sentences Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to further one-year jail term, 26 April). David Wall Northampton • Answering a question about Libya at a Tory party conference side event that I attended in 2017, Boris Johnson said it was an incredible country with white sands and great potential that could become a new Dubai. The only thing they would have to do is clear away the dead bodies (No 10 rebukes Boris Johnson over Sirte ‘dead bodies’ comment, 4 October 2017). He got a laugh, of course, but the chair quickly moved on to my question about the need for safeguards in food trade and labelling of baby foods. As far as I’m concerned, this is typical. He’ll say anything as long as it gets a laugh. Patti Rundall Baby Milk Action IBFAN UK • Our PM is very fond of making reference to the ancient world of Greece and Rome. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos, King Oedipus sees bodies piling up in the city of Thebes, the deaths caused by the stench of miasma. Years before, he had been proclaimed as the saviour of Thebes, having solved the riddle of the Sphinx which had been unsolved for many years. He comes on stage out of his furnished royal palace, reminding his people that he has saved the nation before and saying that he will get to the bottom of the plague. He is full of hubris and bravado, ignorant of who he really is. “I am Oedipus, the world knows my fame.” Determined to discover the cause of the plague, he interrogates the prophet Tiresias. At first he shows respect to the blind prophet and gently asks him to reveal what he knows. He then loses his temper and uses foul language, throwing insults at his revered adviser. By the end of the play, the penny finally drops. Oedipus blinds himself, having accepted his fault and showing his humanity. He moves from hero to zero, from arrogance to humility. A complex situation indeed... David Huggon Colchester, Essex • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.