‘Mr and Mrs Sunak have been gaming the system’

@Pierrot Pierrot:

“Mr Sunak might well have told the truth but is this yet another case of being ‘economical with the truth’? Mr Sunak does not live in isolation from Mrs Sunak. Her wealth, especially given its magnitude, is clearly as relevant to the matter as is his own.

“By the same token, how can balanced judgements, which affect our daily lives, be taken by someone who is not even committed to living in the UK? 

“The reality is that Mr and Mrs Sunak have been gaming the system. Their actions might well have been legal but they are entirely inappropriate for someone in Mr Sunak’s position.”

‘The rules on non-dom status have been there for many years’

@Lousie Hughs:

“His wife is Indian, therefore why do so many people believe that she should pay tax on her Indian income to the UK? Are we saying that she shouldn’t pay tax in the country of her birth or are people trying to say she should pay tax twice? The rules on non-dom status have been there for many years.

“There is no ‘scam’ or ‘scheme’ here to avoid tax. The rules are the rules and they’re the same for everyone.”

‘We are in danger of losing one of the decent politicians of our age’

@Duncan Clark, Witham, Essex:

“SIR – The rush to judgement on the personal finances of Rishi Sunak and his wife, informed by the wretched ‘optics’ rather than a calm consideration of the facts, is a depressing aspect of our political condition.

“We are in danger of losing one of the decent politicians of our age: a man who has guided this nation through one of its most challenging post-war periods with creative thinking, hard work and integrity.

“The country could quite soon get what it deserves: politicians who are more comfortable in television and radio studios proclaiming their ineffective self-righteousness than they are at running the country in difficult times.

“If Rishi Sunak pushed off, I for one wouldn’t blame him. But I would miss him.”

Mariupol fighters battle on weeks after experts said city would fall

Despite a looming Russian pincer movement and recent threats of chemical attacks, Mariupol fighters have battled on. Syatoslav Palamar, a captain in Ukraine’s Azov regiment, sent out a defiant message in response to the experts, in which he called Mariupol ‘a fighter city’. This statement resonated with our readers who took to the comments to suggest how the West can help Ukraine in its battle for the port city.

‘The West and Ukraine must prevent occupation of Mariupol’

@A Denny:

“The West and Ukraine must prevent occupation of Mariupol if they are to win this war against Putin; it is pivotal; or they must then retake it if lost now. If Mariupol is lost, it opens the way to Odessa and Russia can control the Ukraine coast and Black Sea: – the latter will then become a no-go area for Nato.

“The Westernmost Russian pincer is the weakest and should be attacked vigorously from the North to cut it off with a pocket in the West – that leaves the fight in the East of Mariupol with supply lines from Ukraine.

“I’m surprised this has not been carried out by now if there is re-grouping of a weakened Russian army for a surge in Mariupol on their leaving Kyiv.”

‘We have to even the odds’

@Andrew Grant:

“I hope some way can be found of delivering highly destructive weapons into the hands of the Ukrainians in a way that they will be able to use them to the full effect around Mariupol. Whether it’s done from a distance or by smuggling material into the defenders, we have to even the odds. Holding out for another month is probably enough to finish this whole Russian campaign.

“Large Thermobaric warheads on troop concentrations outside the city centre. Small targeted munitions, IEDs and small drones in the city centre. It has to be done and done now. We can’t see Mariupol go down.”

‘This is a one-way invasion not a two-way war’

@Mark Huckstep:

“Bodies everywhere. Thousands murdered. Old people, mothers, children, murdered. Where is our outrage? 

“Reporting factually has its place but this is hideous mass murder. A calm and peaceful and beautiful city has been laid waste with massive loss of life and maiming and suffering. This is a one-way invasion not a two-way war. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 is probably the best one-sided parallel. 

“Why can the West not do far, far more in supplying the Ukrainian army and in totally cutting off all incoming money to Russia? Germany needs a stern warning that its attitude is unacceptable and will have real consequences unless it changes its self-serving ways. We can and must do more.”

Channel migrants to be sent to Rwanda

In a landmark immigration deal, it was revealed this week that Channel migrants will be flown to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed in an “offshore” facility. As part of the plans, Boris Johnson announced on Thursday that the military will be put in charge of operations in the Channel. Readers overall were pleased that firm action is finally being taken to tackle the migrant crisis.