Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations bring to mind ‘A Bridge Too Far’

SIR – Theresa May’s declaration that “95 per cent of the withdrawal agreement and its protocols are now settled” (report, October 22) brought to mind a similar remark relating to Operation Market Garden.

As described in Cornelius Ryan’s excellent book from 1974, A Bridge Too Far, thousands of Allied troops were dropped by parachute behind enemy lines in Holland as part of a high-risk attempt to end the conflict in Europe in 1944. The assault – like our current Brexit negotiations, it seems – was beset by poor planning, weak strategic command and a fragile line of attack.

In the aftermath, General Bernard Montgomery suggested that his brainchild, Market Garden, “was 90 per cent successful”. Historians tell us that the operation was in fact a costly failure.

Right now, the Prime Minister’s negotiations look like a case of “A Concession Too Far”.

As with Montgomery, quoting the percentages can be a dangerous game. If things carry on like this, her words could well come back to haunt her, and her Government.

Lt Col Duncan Robertson (retd) Lytham St Annes, Lancashire

SIR – Isn’t the Prime Minister’s statement that the terms of Brexit are 95 per cent settled like a prisoner saying the terms of his pardon are 95 per cent agreed – there’s just the small matter of his imminent execution and whether the pardon is posthumous? Dr Michael Baker

Broadstairs, Kent

SIR – Mrs May says that she can see the finishing line. From Southport you can see Blackpool Tower on a clear day. Unfortunately many people think you can walk across the sands. Those who try often get trapped by the incoming tide and have to be rescued by lifeboat.

Southport, Lancashire

SIR – Those of us who have followed the Brexit negotiations feel a rising fury as we watch our great country being humiliated. Those of us who know about negotiation stare in disbelief. The Prime Minister clearly knows nothing about it: nothing about planning, brainstorming, developing tactics, escape routes, timing, tempo, sequencing, psychology. How have we got here? Who will rescue us?

Flecknoe, Warwickshire

SIR – Sajid Javid (report, October 22) is said to have asked the Prime Minister directly if the EU has been explicitly threatened with no deal.

Having spent many years training negotiators, I would suggest simply saying this to the EU: “We love you all like brothers and sisters though we are now sadly at the point where it is unlikely we will reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Therefore we are going ahead on a no-deal basis. If the EU has any fresh initiatives or ideas you are most welcome to come to London and share them with us.”

Minehead, Somerset