Our political consensus is built on lies and fear | Letters

Politicians tend to subscribe to the same set of assumptions because they are terrified of being labelled radical, writes Jamie Driscoll. Plus letters from Dr Hugh Firth , Oliver McAdoo, Mike Garnier and Cathy Wood

George Monbiot's claim that our system of organised lying has created an entire class of politicians, officials, media commentators, cultural leaders, academics and intellectuals who nod along with" capitalist orthodoxy is largely true (Putin exploits the lie machine but didn't invent it. British history is also full of untruths, 30 March).

I'm a metro mayor. We've run a citizens' assembly on climate change and are implementing its recommendations. We've invested in clean energy and our Green New Deal is operational. We promote our Good Work Pledge, directly tackle child poverty, and are investing in the social and cooperative economy. Our policy objective is to create a zero-carbon, zero-poverty North of Tyne. I call for wealth taxes, and without urgent and crisis-level action, we will destroy our planet's capacity to support us.