Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com 

• OH my my, isn’t it disgraceful, the Chinese government are spying on our government!

What absolute cads they are. I mean, play the game etc etc.

This hysterical shock-horror in our media along with the nauseating sanctimonious moralising from our senior politicians is one of the oldest distractionary tactics in the book.

Never mind schools and hospitals being in danger of collapse. And never mind the NHS being driven into the ground by ideologues determined to monetise our basic health needs.

Johnny Foreigner is spying on us! Who remembers the old comic strip Spy vs Spy which highlighted the absurdity of the inter­national espionage game?

Our foreign secretary (anybody know who that is these days?) should be asked if we British employ people to spy on foreign powers. And if their answer is no, they should be sacked immediately.

Of course they should be spying on foreign powers. All other states – the US, Germany, France, Russia, China, Ukraine – they all do it. And we used to pride ourselves on how well we did it!

Just don’t get caught.

Grow up, everybody, and sort out the real problems of the day.

F WILLIAMS, WC1