Colin Montgomery says people are tired of being told how backwards they are if they don’t play along with priggishness, while Martyn Thomas ponders societal changes. Plus a letter from Dan Rainey

In John Harris’s article ( From Trump’s victory, a simple, inescapable message: many people despise the left, 10 November ) there is a nugget of text that best describes the abominable mess the “left” (a catch-all descriptor which is in itself part of the problem) finds itself in, because it beautifully expresses both the problem and solution for those of a progressive bent in one fell swoop – albeit he delivers them in reverse.

It came when Harris spoke of an agenda often “expressed with a judgmental arrogance, and based on behavioural codes – to do with microaggressions, or the correct use of pronouns ...”. That rings true with many people who aren’t that fussed with identity politics (or politics in general) and feel alienated by those who are.