Have we lost our collective sense of purpose? After struggling to comfort a suicidal friend, Melissa Todd explores the modern mental health crisis.

Commons sleaze, the rise of Reform, attacks on the elderly and the smoking crackdown are among topics tackled in this week’s letters to the editor.

Why did an MP earning £91,000 a year attack maternity pay, ponders our columnist, but might it help those raising the next generation of taxpayers?

Our columnist suggests cash has become the vinyl record of the monetary world and even bank cards are now akin to outdated CDs.

Our increasingly angry society, the government ‘acting against workers’ and the state of the NHS are among topics tackled on this week’s letters page.

Rising prices and unreliable deliveries - our columnist asks if she’s any right to grumble about postal services or is she part of the problem?

If you’ve ever complained about the county’s roads and attitudes behind the wheel, there is a place where rules barely exist.

As prison overcrowding reaches crisis point, Melissa Todd explores the alternatives - including the “short, sharp shock” of a corporal punishment.

Housebuilding, winter fuel allowance cuts, the “mean” new government and attitudes to deafness are among topics tackled on this week’s letters page.

Free lunches are being served in London’s primary schools for the second year running and our columnist believes it’s time this happened everywhere.

Whitstable’s long running oyster festival is back - but it’s been a rollercoaster ride over the last 30 years our columnist remembers.

The vital role of immigrants in healthcare, the loss of pensioners’ rights and double standards over protests are among topics tackled by our readers.

People are watching which way MPs vote on winter fuel payments, believes our columnist, with debates rumbling as autumn’s first cold snap arrives.

Local Facebook groups suggest everywhere in Kent is a festering pit of crime and overdevelopment…so isn’t it time we take a more positive approach?

If it were up to columnist Melissa Todd, private schools would be abolished and children - both rich and poor - allocated places by a lottery system.

The scourge of shoplifting, animal cruelty and the government’s raw deal for pensioners are among topics tackled in this week’s letters to the editor.

Ofsted has axed single-phrase judgements for schools, but former Kent head teacher Phil Karnavas says the watchdog should be scrapped altogether…

Why the fuss about Oasis ticket prices, asks our columnist, who argues families needing August holidays have paid inflated prices for years.

As millions seek to snap up tickets to Oasis’ reunion shows, our columnist will not be among them…

The demonisation of car drivers and suppression of free speech are among the concerns voiced by readers on our letters page this week.