Brexit raises question of whether Parliament or people is sovereign in the UK

In the past three years, members of Parliament have failed to execute the will of the people who elected them, despite the EU Leave vote in 470 of 650 constituencies.

Instead, politicians now revert to the law courts to make legal rulings on political issues whilst the selfappointed judiciary appear to be making new constitutional law without oversight. People need to know, are our Law Lords to be political appointments if they are making political decisions? Are our politicians to become vexatious litigants as they seek to prevail over their opponents?

In our Parliament, whilst the House of Commons has refused to implement the will of the people, the House of Lords has resisted the radical reduction needed of its burgeoning numbers and necessary procedural reforms, in order to make it an institution fit for purpose.

Both Houses have left angry taxpayers to bear the unacceptable cost of their blatant failures. This situation is unsustainable. The question is, will it be reform or revolution? Which is sovereign, Parliament or the people? ELIZABETH MARSHALL Western Harbour Midway

Edinburgh

I feel it’s necessary to correct the thrust of Keith Howell’s letter on yesterday’s Letters page. Every move he attacks became necessary when successive Tory governments tried to ride roughshod over convention and the law. It was only the courts which prevented Theresa May from legislating Brexit without consulting Parliament.

At every turn, Boris Johnson has tried, and he continues to try, to ignore the sovereignty allegedly at the heart of Brexit. This has forced opponents, and there are many, to resort to the courts.

It is also Johnson who has suggested filling the Supreme Court with political appointees, with the government vetting nominations, thereby threatening the very “separation of powers” Mr Howell defends.

KIT FRASER Belhaven High Street, Dunbar