Parliament’s appalling handling of Brexit will do lasting damage to voters’ faith in democracy
SIR – Yesterday I received my polling card for the May local elections. Incandescent with rage over the way in which our shameful Government has behaved, I will be tearing that card in half and sending it to Conservative Party headquarters.
At the next general election, in the absence of any sane party to vote for, I shall do the same thing. How else can I register my displeasure with Parliament and all those who hide behind its facade of democracy? Andrew Denley
Selsfield, West Sussex
SIR – For the past year or so I have been resisting the urge to resign my membership of the Conservative Party, on the basis that this would play into the hands of any Remainer who stands in a leadership ballot.
However, I can no longer contain my anger and frustration. I don’t care what happens to the Conservatives. What is the point of belonging to a party that ignores the wishes of its members, and indeed those of the majority of the population? I have voted Conservative for the last 50 years, but will not do so again. In fact, I will not be voting at all, as there is no party that represents my views. Democracy has been killed off by a parliamentary elite completely out of touch with the populace.
Of course, this may lead to a Marxist government coming to power in a low-turnout election. But I can never forgive the Conservatives for offering a tantalising view of the opportunities available to Britain outside the EU, only to cruelly snatch it away through sheer incompetence. Steve Black
Nottingham
SIR – Incandescent with rage is how everyone outside the M25 feels about the Commons.
However, Conservatives who cut up their membership cards and leave the party will be unable to take part in replacing their present leader – which is what I intend to do. (I live in the Maidenhead constituency, so nobody could be more cross with their own MP than me.) Susan Doughty
Twyford, Berkshire
SIR – The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 made plain that, if there was no agreement, Britain would leave with no deal. This was passed into law with a Commons majority of 384.
On Wednesday night, parliamentary protocol was upturned to hustle through a backbench bill to spike a no-deal Brexit. It managed a majority of one, with help from the former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya, who has recently served a prison sentence.
How does the latter pip the former? Martin Burgess
Beckenham, Kent
SIR – We got one vote in the referendum, but MPS get a seemingly unlimited number of votes to overturn our decision. Philip J Honey
Retford, Nottinghamshire SIR – I now hope that the EU’S intransigence prevails. With luck it will stop this farce by declining a request for another extension, meaning that we leave on April 12, and a Tory government under a new leader can get on with sorting out life.
There will then be three years to revive our democracy and heal the damage that has been done. Charles Holden
Micheldever, Hampshire
SIR – My son in New Zealand tells me that Kiwis have abandoned watching soaps as they find the goings-on at Westminster much more entertaining. They particularly enjoy Ed Miliband’s facial expressions (though the nude parade was the icing on the cake).
In my youth New Zealanders worshipped all things British, including Westminster democracy – which they adopted, complete with Erskine May.
How are the mighty fallen. N Malcolm
Lowestoft, Suffolk