The intolerable frustration of seeing Parliament defying the voters and refusing an election

sir – Many of us see a battle between the Government and people on one side and a disparate group of opposition parties and so-called Remainers on the other, who, with the collusion of the Speaker, are determined to thwart the will of the voters as expressed in the recent referendum.

Clearly, this Parliament is now defunct. The Government cannot govern and it would appear from the defeat of Wednesday’s vote calling for an election, it is unwilling to submit itself to the will of the electorate. If the present situation continues, then the frustration of the people brought about by the indecision in Parliament will spill over into violence.

It is time for this Parliament to be dissolved and power returned to the people to elect a new government. Charles Gallannaugh

Waldron, East Sussex

sir – An election would decide the nation’s future. If the public vote for the Conservatives we leave the EU, and if the public vote for Labour or the Lib Dems we would stay in the EU. It’s the only way it can be resolved, it will never be settled in Parliament. Roger Leach

Honiton, Devon

sir – I watched Kenneth Clarke in Parliament on Wednesday exhorting Boris Johnson to agree a deal with the EU while simultaneously voting for a mechanism to prevent him doing so.

Am I the only one to think these people have lost their marbles?

You have suggested (Leading Article, September 4) that this Parliament is not fit to govern. I agree – a general election is the only way to clean these Augean stables. Alisdair Low

Richmond, Surrey

sir – I’m not surprised that Parliament wouldn’t back a general election on October 15 to decide the future of Brexit. After all, it gave us a referendum on Brexit in 2016 and we failed to give the correct answer. The electorate obviously can’t be trusted. Lynette Johnson

Udny, Aberdeenshire

sir – The behaviour of Parliament is utterly ironic. We have a Prime Minister battling to save its sovereignty, while that very same Parliament appears to be set on surrendering it to the European Union. Fight the good fight, Boris Johnson. Chris Arthur

Durham

sir – Come on Jeremy Corbyn; now is your chance to let us have that “people’s vote” you were so keen on. Ann Orton

Barningham, North Yorkshire

sir – People are going to go absolutely bananas if Brexit is blocked yet again by MPS. The anger is palpable. C R Abbott

Bowdon, Cheshire

sir – I don’t believe in miracles, but wouldn’t it be lovely if the EU were to deny Britain another extension?

What would our arrogant and selfserving politicians do then?

Dr Richard A E Grove

Isle of Whithorn, Wigtownshire

sir – The MPS determined to block Brexit and deny a general election, because they fear they will lose, show that they do not represent the people but are defying them.

This feels more like a coup than the actions of Boris Johnson, who is battling to deliver Brexit in accordance with his party’s manifesto and the referendum result. Parliament has made itself illegitimate.

If MPS can pick and choose the Munch’s Scream on a banner at a People’s Vote demonstration in Parliament Square votes they respect, I feel entitled to pick and choose the laws I obey. Where will this end? Alison Levinson

Hastings, East Sussex

sir – What on earth can we do? This is the most depressing time in politics of my whole life. A Parliament that is utterly unable to carry out the will of the people, hamstrung by politicians entirely hell-bent on their own point of view regardless of that of their constituents. They should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

At least we still have our homes and our lives, unlike those poor folk in the Bahamas. Heather Wannell

Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire

sir – If I were to prove unfit to drive my car, my licence would be taken away from me. Three years ago, the public voted to leave the EU. Parliament has failed to implement this decision and looks unlikely to do so in the near future, if at all.

Clearly, it is unfit to act on behalf of the people and should forfeit its “licence” to govern. Since it refuses to do so by calling a general election, is there any legal action the public can take to enforce its dissolution? David Pearson

Reading , Berkshire

sir – The Speaker and Remainer MPS have betrayed the people and trashed the constitution. A bewildered and furious nation will eventually get its chance to show its contempt. Pauline Coleman

Painswick, Gloucestershire

sir – It is a difficult time to adopt a Christian attitude to the current shameful and disrespectful antics of the Tory rebels, but perhaps: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” John Morris

King’s Lynn, Norfolk

sir – The definition of a dictatorship is a person or group that ignores the democratically expressed wishes of the people. Roy Ellis

Pontesford, Shropshire

sir – Let’s keep this simple. Parliament voted down Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement. It has now voted down a no-deal Brexit. The EU will not renegotiate. So what is Parliament proposing that will honour the referendum? Ken Jones

Hambledon, Hampshire

sir – It is polite to say that some MPS are disingenuous when they insist there is no mandate for a no-deal Brexit. There is. It is in Article 50 – if no agreement can be reached with the EU, then leaving without a deal is the legal default. After three-and-a-half years, they have come to no agreement for a deal. Amanda Malas

Hartley, Northumberland

sir – Only one thing stops us leaving the EU (which is what the nation voted for) and that’s Parliament. The navel-gazing, bickering and egotistical dramatics in the Commons must stop, and the PM be allowed to get on with carrying out the will of the people. Liney Cumberlege

Iwerne Minster, Dorset

sir – What is Parliament for? Having failed to deliver on the referendum result after three years’ deliberation, it has compromised our ability to get a good deal with the EU by taking a no-deal Brexit off the table. Now, by concurrently rejecting a general election, it keeps itself in power to no positive purpose other than, it would seem, for MPS to continue drawing their salaries.

Cdre Malcolm Williams RN (rtd) Southsea, Hampshire

sir – During Tuesday’s debate in Parliament, Theresa May was grinning widely beside Kenneth Clarke. Later, she was pictured laughing in the rear of her car as she was driven away.

Surely she should feel some shame for the situation we are now facing as a country, and not obvious delight at her successor’s discomfiture? Gail Brown

Kidderminster, Worcestershire

sir – I am a passionate Conservative and Brexiteer, and fully support Boris Johnson, the PM. My quandary is that Theresa May is my MP. How do I vote? Sue Beale

Maidenhead, Berkshire

sir – I used to enjoy the debates of our parliamentarians from the floor of the House. No more. I turned my television off in disgust. Almost without exception they were rude, obnoxious, venomous, spiteful, bitter, aggressive and strident, shouting at each other in ways that would not be tolerated anywhere else. Graham Bond

Matching Green, Essex

sir – Watching Parliament in action, it really does seem that Space Ship Westminster has finally left planet Earth and that all communication with us Earthlings has ceased. Ben Howkins

London SW11

sir – The Remainer MPS are winning the “no no-deal” votes, but losing half the people. Much has been said about threats to our democracy lately, but the biggest danger surely is that the people stop believing in it. Colin A Reed

New Malden, Surrey

sir – I am a retired civil servant and was a lifelong Labour voter until 2016. Since then I have voted Tory.

My feelings about the 21 MPS recently forbidden to represent the Tory party are that they knew very well that Mr Johnson had been elected by the whole of the Tory party (MPS and members) by a substantial majority.

His priorities regarding Brexit were clear throughout the election process, and, by virtue of his widespread support in the party, those priorities attached themselves to the party itself. If the 21 felt that their widely publicised consciences did not allow them to follow the party line, the honourable thing for them to have done should have been to resign their memberships and seek by-elections to find their replacements, not wait to be sacked.

The predicaments in which they now find themselves cannot be expected to draw any public sympathy. Roger Higginson

Bracknell, Berkshire

sir – Perhaps voters should look in the mirror and ponder why they elected so many arrogant no-hopers into the corridors of power. Andrew Shanks

Uckfield, East Sussex

sir – I notice from your picture of the Opposition front bench (September 5), that five out of the six ladies present are either using or clutching their mobile phones.

Are they incapable of concentrating on the debate? JS Hirst

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire