The Brexit debacle means the death of Conservatism and of trust in the democratic system

sir – They gave the nation a referendum. The nation voted Leave.

They promised to execute the result, and put it in an election manifesto. The nation voted for it again.

But the Parliamentary Conservative Party has another idea. Not to leave.

With Tuesday’s announcement by Theresa May of the three votes opening the way to delay Brexit, the Conservative Party has died. Iven Chadwick

Poynton, Cheshire

sir – What we are witnessing is something far worse than “appalling and disloyal behaviour” (of which Andrea Leadsom was reported yesterday to have accused rebellious Cabinet ministers) or a threat to the Conservatives’ credibility. The Tory party lost credibility long ago, and none of us, I suppose, much cares whether Amber Rudd and David Gauke are loyal to Mrs May or she to them.

What is truly being destroyed is faith in the British political system and in the dogma that ultimate power rests with the people. All my life I have seen the same establishment types effectively dictating what “the people” ought to want, or should be made to want – on no subject more relentlessly than on Europe.

They have invariably had their way; they never met a rebuff; and hitherto they were able to pretend that they spoke for “the people”. On June 23 2016 that mask was torn away, and they reacted with all the incredulous resentment of a spoilt child.

Having lost the argument and the verdict in the country, they have laboured ever since to undo the decision, to deny the right of the people to decide at all, endlessly complaining (like the pampered child) of the “unfairness” of a contest they had failed to win.

Now, at last, they scent success and are indecent in their triumphalism.

The appalling disloyalty is to us, the people. Dr MR Maloney

London N3

sir – I was aware that unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels have a considerable influence on how EU policy is devised and enforced. I was not aware that this practice had spread to Britain.

Oliver Robbins, a civil servant, spoke about the terms of Brexit policy in a hotel some two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister advised the House of Commons of precisely the same policy as Mr Robbins announced in that Brussels bar. A R Butler

Thorpe Bay, Essex sir – In 2009, under the guise of expenses claims, dozens of MPS were quietly stealing taxpayers’ money.

In 2019, in an underhand move to stop Brexit, dozens of MPS have quietly broken their manifesto promise to respect the referendum result, in order to steal democracy. Gerald Heath

Corsham, Wiltshire

sir – Sadly, we have come to expect our politicians to be duplicitous, but let’s call them out when they are.

When they say there is no majority in Parliament to leave the EU on March 29 without a deal, they really mean there is a majority in Parliament to remain within the EU, in defiance of the 2016 referendum result.

Any deferral beyond March 29 will, of course, encourage the EU’S intransigence and there will be no onus on them to agree anything with us, leaving us in a non-brexit limbo indefinitely, thanks to the Irish backstop.

Should we find ourselves in this dreadful situation, be in no doubt about the reason: this is a Brexit negotiated by and for Remainers. Ian Jefferson

London W6

sir – There is now little reason for EU negotiators to make any concessions to Britain. Any meaningful break from the EU may disappear now that Mrs May has been forced to hold votes on no-deal. Removing the default of leaving the EU on March 29 without a deal will surely receive a majority in this squalid Parliament that we are forced to suffer.

I encouraged my children to vote in elections, even if that meant voting for people whose politics I despise.

Now I wonder whether our vote in the referendum to leave the EU was worth anything, in a country that used to be held as a beacon for democracy. Bill Todd

Twickenham, Middlesex

sir – We are led to believe that Mrs May is being held to ransom by the Remainers in her Cabinet, and that she is thus railroaded into taking measures against her will.

These “rebellious” colleagues were carefully chosen by her and, in the case of the arch-rebel, Amber Rudd, recently chosen for a second time.

They will in all probability succeed in scuppering Brexit, while Mrs May can claim to have done her best. Hilda Ford

Corsham, Wiltshire

sir – The lady has turned. Neil Stuart Plymouth, Devon