Britain can’t keep negotiating with an EU that refuses to compromise

sir – The EU’S attitude to negotiations is clear: it tells you what to do and you get on with it. So is Leo Varadkar’s – he knows that if he continues to play hardball the EU will reward him with Northern Ireland.

This makes the abject Surrender Act redundant, as the EU will not budge and Britain must not cast Northern Ireland adrift.

There is no point in extending Article 50 if there can be no compromise. Charles Penfold

Ulverston, Cumbria

sir – Am I alone in finding it neither ethical nor moral to try to force someone to do something that they do not believe in and do not wish to do – especially when what they are being forced to do is against the majority view of the population?

I have no expertise regarding legal precedence but, if the Benn Act is legal, does it not mean that any government with a working majority can pass similar acts, forcing other members of Parliament to do whatever it wishes? Terence Carter

Birmingham

sir – It is now clear that Boris Johnson’s proposals cannot form the basis of an agreement with the EU (report, October 8, telegraph.co.uk).

The British people deserve a rapid resolution to Brexit so that we can get on with our lives. We voted to leave, a deal cannot be agreed, therefore we must leave without one. It really is that simple. Or so it should have been, had not the Remainers refused to accept the result of the referendum.

The EU is not without blame: it asked Mr Johnson to submit detailed proposals and he did so. It has not told him what changes need to be made to render these proposals acceptable. This is a shameful situation for everyone involved. Nigel Dyson

West Worldham, Hampshire sir – Before the referendum in 2016, the Government sent to each household a booklet outlining the benefits of remaining in the EU and the disadvantages of leaving.

Having just revisited this booklet, I notice there is no reference to the Irish border issue. Given that the aim was to highlight potential problems with leaving, it overlooked what has become the single most difficult question. Had this been raised, might it have influenced the outcome? RF Pottow

Calne, Wiltshire

sir – If we leave the EU without a negotiated deal, only our antidemocratic Parliament can be blamed.

Remain MPS, representing their own interests and not those of the majority of the British people, have encouraged a predatory EU to believe that we will submit to its demands.

It would seem that the British people have more faith in Britain than do their leaders in Westminster. Patrick Kelly

Chippenham, Wiltshire