Is Northern Ireland link still relevant?
From: Mike Smethurst, Rotherham.
DO we need Northern Ireland?
Yet again, the DUP have rejected the new Brexit terms negotiated by the Government and, in doing so, have denied the will of the British people.
Maybe the time has come to question the value to Britain of the Union with Northern Ireland and whether it is still relevant.
If not, the Union should be broken and we should work towards a united Ireland – something many in the North would support, bearing in mind that at the last election, the DUP polled 28 per cent and Sinn Fein 22 per cent.
Such a suggestion might just focus Arlene Foster’s mind.
From: Alan Chapman, Beck Lane, Bingley.
THE wrecking amendment proposed by Sir Oliver Letwin to the PM’s hard-fought agreement with the EU, stopping his new deal being considered by the Commons on Saturday, was an absolute disgrace.
I understand Sir Oliver is standing down at the next general election, if not he should be booted out of the Conservative Party on a permanent basis. Hopefully disowned by his constituency!
Worse still was the support of the DUP for the amendment. The May government was prepared to pay Northern Ireland £1bn for support to see a deal through Parliament, if any of that money remains with the Treasury the whole balance should never arrive in Ulster. The reason? Breach of contract!
From: Alan Machin,
Bessacarr, Doncaster.
JAYNE Dowle suggests that the Leave vote was more a verdict on Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative government than it was an expression of longterm national future-proofing by an informed and engaged electorate (The Yorkshire Post, October 21).
The Brexit Party won the most seats in the 2019 European elections which indicates the growing opposition to being part of what is, in effect, the European Empire and many people, over the years, have realised that this project is not just about trade, as we were told on joining the Common Market.
Ms Dowle claims it was a narrow Leave margin in the referendum, but I don’t think a difference of 1,269,501 votes is even close. She then goes on to criticise Jeremy Corbyn for a lack of leadership. I think he should have told the people who lost the referendum to get over it and then try to get a good deal for this country.
From: Mike O’Sullivan, Allerton Bywater, Castleford,
IT is hard to argue with Shaun Kavanagh (The Yorkshire Post, October 21) about the Parliamentary tactics of Labour and Hilary Benn after the 2016 referendum.
I voted Leave being well aware that leaving the EU would mean leaving the Single Market and Customs Union, and I resent the arrogance of Mr Benn and the Swinson-led Lib Dems telling me that I did not know what I was doing. Look at Hilary Benn’s record as chair of the Brexit Committee in Parliament and see just how little regard he has for the referendum result. I can say the same for Yvette Cooper.
From: Christopher Clapham, Shipley.
THE fact that Parliament sat on a Saturday was a total waste of public money considering the outcome.
That most Labour MPs voted for a further delay tells us that Labour, after months, of being “all things to all men” are finally and firmly in the Remain camp. They do not respect the result of the 2016 referendum which is sad considering we are one of the oldest democracies in the world.
From: AE Green, Grosvenor Mount, Leeds.
I VOTED Remain in 2016, not because I’m a pro-European idealist, but because nothing I heard from Leave campaigners persuaded me that they had much idea what might happen next.
Three-and-a-half years later, I’ve heard nothing to change my mind. Theresa May, an intelligent person, couldn’t get a deal that Parliament would support (indeed it was opposed by her successor). Boris Johnson has done worse. When do we get a second referendum?
From: Coun Tim Mickleburgh (Lab), Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.
I AM pleased that my local MP, Melanie Onn, is probably going to support the Brexit deal in the Commons after abstaining on Saturday. This shows that she is willing to follow the wishes of her constituents, almost 70 per cent of whom voted Leave in the 2016 referendum.
From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.
A QUESTION for Sir Bill Cash and Sir John Redwood. Why is it wrong for opposition MPs to scrutinise Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, and demand economic impact assessments, when you were among those Tory MPs in the early 1990s who used every possible Parliamentary device and ruse to delay ratification of the Maastricht Treaty?
You cannot have it both ways.
From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.
WHAT was more disgraceful – that Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg walked out of proceedings on Saturday
(The Yorkshire Post, October 22) without answering questions from MPs about this week’s Parliamentary timetable or the fact that the Cabinet minister, and one of his young sons, needed a police escort home?