How wonderful that at last we have a Government which believes in Britain and talks it up. Boris Johnson’s debut speech as Prime Minister in the Commons was like throwing open the shutters and tearing down the stale curtains in Miss Havisham’s decaying mansion: a completely different atmosphere has taken over.

At last we have the Cabinet and Prime Minister that we should have had three years ago. Watching PMQs, it was as though the opposition side could not keep up with the pace that Mr Johnson and his supporters set. After the usual Comrade Corbyn rant he sat down and looked like he was about to throw the towel in. The Labour party are now a spent force.

Boris Johnson and his new cabinet have thrown down the gauntlet to the EU and if they want to play silly games as they did with Mrs May, they will come off worst.

Bob Waite,

Holgate, York

Don’t drop the baton on police, Boris

Having broken free from his predecessor’s intransigence, Boris Johnson has vowed to replace the 20,000 police officers stripped from the streets over the past 10 years. It’s the obvious means of counteracting the worrying trend of violent crime and a reinforcement of the fact that the primary responsibility of Government is public safety.

Sajid Javid (whose brother is a senior police officer) began to make waves as Home Secretary. Now in the role of Chancellor, he has the wherewithal to create a tsunami by committing the £1 billion required to recruit and train 20,000 officers over the next three years.

Boris Johnson is famous for his bluster and infamous for his gaffs. Let’s hope he doesn’t drop the baton on his latest promise to up policing numbers and restore stop and search powers to the armoury of policing tactics.

Allan Charlesworth,

Old Earswick, York

Did Boris dance on the table with glee?

So blond Boris has got the job he has wanted for years, to occupy 10 Downing Street. After giving his victory speech, I could imagine him going into the cabinet room, locking the door, getting onto the table and dancing with glee. He will just have to hope his colleagues don’t change sides, like he and others did with Theresa May.

Maureen Robinson,

Broadway, York

What’s happened to the waistcoat, Jacob?

Now that he has been promoted to the cabinet, I notice that my favourite politician Jacob Rees-Mogg has ditched his waistcoat and double-breasted for the same attire as other ministers. I hope this quintessential English gent does not lose his charm and uniqueness and just become like the rest. Hopefully it is the heatwave that has brought about this change, and he soon returns to normal.

Geoff Robb, Hunters Close,

Dunnington, York

Was it aliens who voted for Brexit?

The interest in the long sad story of Brexit seems to have been given extra impetus by the election of our new Prime Minister. Also revived have been calls for a ‘people’s vote’.

Who voted last time? Were they aliens from another planet? No, they were people, who voted in vast numbers in a referendum and politicians promised the result would be accepted.

If we don’t like the result of referenda, elections, etc. can we from now on ask for another, and presumably another? We used to accept our elected leaders made decisions on our behalf and acted upon them.

There have also been patronising comments that those who voted to leave the EU didn’t understand the situation. This assumes that all those who voted to remain did understand! Really? Perhaps before we are allowed the privilege of a vote, we should have to pass a general knowledge test, and perhaps an intelligence test?

Stay or go, the decision must be made, and quickly. This damaging uncertainty has to come to an end.

Pamela Brown,

Goodwood Grove, York

I’m still dreaming of a Labour government...

The Tory MPs, with their tantrums, seem determined to have a Labour government. When Labour is in power I hope they will emulate the government of Clement Attlee which, in a difficult post-war period, built millions of council houses, created the NHS and took into public ownership the power industries and railways, large parts of which are now foreign owned.

One of their great achievements was creating the National Parks and legitimising the wonderful network of rights of way and bridle paths everyone can enjoy.

Bill Heppell, Dringhouses, York

What’s the betting on Farage for next PM?

If we are still in the EU after October 31 - which is quite likely regardless of what Boris says - then with all the cuts and the failure to deliver Brexit, the Tory party are finished.

Labour under Corbyn will struggle to win as there are too many people frightened about him as PM. Should Labour elect a new leader to get them back to being the people’s party then they would have a chance.

The Lib Dems did well at the European and local elections but they have already lost part of their vote as the Labour remain vote will have gone back now they support remain.

The Greens, though going in the right direction, are two generations of voters away from being the force in British politics that they are going to be in years to come. The Brexit party also did well at the the European Elections including in areas that had voted leave.

So, at the next election: the Tories and Greens have no chance; Labour and the Lib Dems are both now fighting for the same vote so weakening each other’s chances; the Brexit Party is still getting the whole of the leave vote.

Welcome Prime Minister Nigel Farage. No? It’s not as far fetched as it sounds.

Mel Burley,

Albion Avenue, York