Maymustgetgrip

Theresa May is somewhere between a rock and a hard place. She depends on the support of the DUP to get her policies through at Westminster, she is challenged by her Brexit Minister, David Davis, to set an end-date, and by Boris Johnson, epitome of loose cannons.

Nicola Sturgeon says that the Prime Minister is weak, as she should have sacked any minister who does not toe the government line, but the truth of the matter is that Ms May cannot sack either Davis or Johnson because that would put her next in line for a P45, and she knows it.

If she wants to win the next election and keep her job Ms May needs to show decisive leadership, make sure all her ministers are singing from the same hymn sheet, get us out of Europe and tell the SNP to have another referendum – and they can have another one after that if they like.

Governments are elected to govern – not swing whichever way the wind blows.

JAMES MACINTYRE Clarendon Road, Linlithgow Brexit has all the hallmarks of the Poll Tax. For long a pet project of Tory backwoodsmen, the latter proved to be a disaster in practice. To save itself 30 years ago, the party was forced to throw its iconic leader under a bus.

The fact is that there are no quick and easy trade deals to compensate for the loss of trade with the EU’S 27 members and the 61 countries with which it has deals, constituting together some 45 per cent of the world’s nations.

Inward investment is plummeting as the disaster unfolds. Our economy depends on the single market and the customs union’s frictionless trade and that will mean accepting the EU’S practices, regulations and standards.

In a democracy the people must be allowed to vote again. Britain is heading towards the rocks and for this life-long Tory voter if salvation requires throwing the party under a bus this time, it’s a necessary sacrifice. (REV DR) JOHN CAMERON

Howard Place, St Andrews