It’s fishy that Conservatives are suddenly so protective about Scottish waters

To describe political rhetoric as debased is something of an oxymoron, since the term “rhetoric” itself implies debasement of an argument.

But surely Scottish Conservative MP Douglas Ross has ventured beyond the red line of propriety with his analogy, given the unsatisfactory fishing arrangements under the transitional stage of Brexit: “It would be easier to get someone to drink a pint of cold sick than try to sell this as a success”(“fishing industry furious over Brexit deal ‘sellout’ ”, 20 March. I challenge him to repeat that in the next Conservative manifesto.

On the same topic, his colleague, MP John Lamont, toiled in an interview on Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, to support previous Conservative utterances about defending to the death the rights of Scottish fishermen – so much so that he was driven to blaming the big bad wolf of Scottish politics, the SNP, who, by advocating Remain, would retain EU domination of fishing in Scottish waters.

But Remain was the key plank of the majority of Conservatives, including Scottish leader Ruth Davidson, and of the then Conservative Westminster government, in the EU referendum campaign – so the Tories and the SNP were both singing from the same hymn sheet. Plus ca change...

DOUGLAS R MAYER Thomson Crescent, Currie It seems that fishing powers won’t be coming back in 2019 as originally thought, but will be postponed a year, and the EU will still have access during a transitional period. Some will see this as a broken promise, and will be angry.

However, opposition parties will have to be careful exploiting this – the SNP, the Liberals, the Greens all wish to take us back in to the EU, i.e. fishing powers would go back to Brussels.

Labour is not clear on the whole issue, so the best bet is still the Conservatives for the return of said powers! WILLIAM BALLANTINE,

Dean Road Bo’ness, West Lothian.

Why the doom and gloom? Why the talk of betrayal regarding access to our waters?

This all smacks to me of some politicians trying to undermine the progress that is clearly being made. We have been in the EU for more than 40 years and now we are leaving. It is surely obvious that to separate after such a length of time much has to be ironed out; people voting to leave the EU knew that this decision was for the long term.

Surely access to fishing over the period of the transition is a price worth paying to be rid of the common fisheries policy permanently. And, once we are rid of it, we can set our own fisheries policy to suit our own needs. Further, in any negotiation there has to be compromise, the EU has compromised to allow us, the UK, to negotiate trade deals during the transition period. So let the negotiators continue to try and obtain the best deal possible; it would be better for others to support them rather than continually make false claims of betrayal.

LW TURNBULL Edderston Road, Peebles