An alternative to Mrs May’s Chequers proposal is plain for all to see
SIR – It puzzles me that the Prime Minister and others in the Government keep saying about the Chequers proposal that “there is no other deal on the table”.
Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, and Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator, have put a Canada-plus deal on the table.
For some unfathomable reason the Government is sticking doggedly to Chequers – at a time when the EU has rejected it out of hand and hardly anyone outside the Government and a few other MPS wants it either.
A Canada type of deal would satisfy the vast majority, I believe. So why the psychological block? Sam Bee
Lindfield, West Sussex
SIR – Boris Johnson is controversial. However, I find myself agreeing with most of what he says. Why have we promised to pay £39 billion to the EU without the guarantee of a mutually advantageous free trade agreement? I have no idea.
Too many MPS on both sides of the House keep their heads down or, in some cases, do not represent the views of their constituents. This creates a disconnect between the “Establishment” and the people of Britain.
Instead of knee-jerk criticism of Mr Johnson, politicians should think about what he says and judge it on its merits. Barry Smith
Loughborough, Leicestershire
SIR – If Downing Street and some Tories are worried that Mr Johnson is too popular and has a chance of being the new leader of the Conservative Party, it will be an amazing act of self-destruction if they stop him being a focal point of Conservative support.
The main thrust of his ideas is well supported by Conservatives and, I believe, the electorate. He is not afraid to say what he thinks, something sadly lacking in the current PM. Graham Mitchell
Haslemere, Surrey SIR – At last a leading Conservative has grasped the need to lower or abolish taxes that block economic activity. Boris Johnson rightly identifies capital gains tax (payable even when there is no real gain at all) and stamp duty. Both are now a form of capital confiscation beloved of socialism – but ruthlessly practised by Conservatives.
He could have added business rates and inheritance tax. They all threaten business, selling, buying or investing. Rodney Atkinson
Stocksfield, Northumberland
SIR – Boris Johnson would not be “the first divorced party leader in 10 Downing Street” (report, September 8) if he succeeded Theresa May.
In 1950, 68 years ago, Anthony and Beatrice Eden were divorced, and Eden succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister in 1955. In 1952 Eden married Churchill’s niece Clarissa Spencer Churchill. Barry Legg
Chairman, Bruges Group London W1