Ignore that gut

Sam Lister’s article, “Most Tory supporters back death penalty” (4 January) shows how the party faithful in each party are influenced by gut reactions rather than logic.

Only Tory supporters want a hard Brexit, while other parties have concerns about risks to the economy, jobs, tax take and the effect on the NHS. The same hard-headed gut reactions justify hanging, attitudes to austerity, and to welfare.

The Labour left, meanwhile, does not love Europe, and passion is now Labour’s driving force, so we need not expect Jeremy corbyn to come off the fence over Europe – even if 80 per cent of his membership

support any decision which protects jobs and workers’ rights.

So, in both parties members confuse hard-headed gut reacting with hard-headed thinking. We have to be counter-intuitive if the drift to extreme right and extreme left is to be “cannie” and based on balanced and rational thinking. When people substitute gut reacting for balanced thinking, you get the US neurosis, where vehemence replaces logic, where political discourse relies on convincing the faithful that opponents are crooked or out of their minds. The race is not for the strong – it is for the balanced.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh