Shameful affair

Shame on our Parliament, which has dithered negatively for three years.

Shame on our Parliament that voted almost unanimously for triggering article 50. Did they do so without thinking?

Shame on the majority of MPS, who seem to have forgotten that they stood on manifestos to honour the referendum: no ifs or buts and on the evidence they had then. Shame on any MP who votes against no-deal without putting forward an alternative deal. At least Prime Minister Boris Johnson offers a clear position – preference a deal, otherwise leaving and starting to negotiate a new relationship with Europe.

JAMES WATSON Randolph Crescent, Dunbar, East Lothian

When I heard the news that Boris Johnson was closing down the Westminster Parliament in case it voted against his no-deal Brexit I was outraged.

Westminster claims to be the mother of parliaments and a symbol of democracy around the world. This was always a flimsy claim given that MPS, unlike in most countries, are elected by the undemocratic first-past- the-post system.

What is clear now is that Parliament cannot even control its own affairs, with the government suspending it at

will. In Scotland, by contrast, MSPS are elected by the more democratic proportional representation system and parliamentary business is controlled by Parliament, not the government.

This Parliament has a mandate for a second referendum on independence if circumstances change. Leaving the EU was itself a big enough change to require a second referendum, but this latest democratic outrage by Johnson is, as Nicola Sturgeon says, “the end of democracy as we know it”. It surely means Scotland must have a second referendum as soon as possible. If Johnson refuses to grant it we should hold it anyway.

I have no doubt Scotland will choose freedom from being governed by jumpedup dictators in London.

HUGH KERR Wharton Square, Edinburgh

The SNP is in the vanguard when it comes to opposing Brexit (“Emergency legal bid to stop Johnson suspending Parliament”, 28 August).

By doing so, it has opened a can of worms when it comes to seeking independence for Scotland. Not only has the SNP already devalued any referendum result, it has called into question the validity of the rules of government itself.

The SNP are no strangers to bending the rules, as can be seen by outlandish schemes proposed to circumvent Westminster’s hold on a Section 30 decision over another independence referendum. The SNP has muddied the waters so much over constitutional change, it has created a rod for its own back.

Indyref2, should it ever occur, will be mired in constitutional and legal argument for years. Scotland can ill afford the economic damage this would cause. The SNP is not standing up for Scotland, it is bringing Scotland to its knees.

GERALD EDWARDS Broom Road, Glasgow