• THE cost of living crisis might be a good thing in this sense: it should help people realise the madness of our society where we spend long hours labouring to produce unnecessary goods that we do not need and the Earth could well do without.

Think, for instance, fast food, fast fashion, central heating at 24°C, air conditioning, HS2, constantly upgraded gadgets, home improvements, beauty salons, and nail bars.

Instead of hankering for more money to spend on these things (“preserving our standard of living”), we could reduce our expenditure, at the same time reducing our planet-heating emissions and working fewer hours.

How about a 30-hour week, something labouring people might get behind? Why isn’t Labour talking about such issues? Oh I forgot: it’s not the Labour Party, it’s the poor person’s Tory party.

NIGEL ARMISTEAD, NW5