Patriotism, tax and the Dyson lobbying affair | Letters

Readers on the row over text messages between James Dyson and Boris Johnson about a tax waiver for people coming to Britain to work on ventilators

Gaby Hinsliff jokes about patriotism moving in mysterious ways", with the great British patriot" James Dyson taking his clean out of the country" (A lot of people pitched in during Covid, but only Dyson got a tax waiver for it, 22 April), but there is nothing remotely funny about the way patriotism is being distorted in No 10. Making arrangements for people to avoid paying taxes suggests that Boris Johnson's brand of patriotism is measured by the amount of union jacks on show, rather than fairness and justice for all individuals, businesses and regions of the country.

What patriotism is demonstrated by governments which, as Rafael Behr wrote a few months ago, force the people to pay the penalty for their neglect of public health infrastructure" (Covid is teaching the Tories basic social democracy - but they won't learn, 26 January), or waste billions of pounds of taxpayers' money on contracts for firms noted for their tax avoidance schemes?