May putting party before country will have devastating effects for all

ARMANDO Iannucci could not have devised a more ridiculous plot for his political satire, The Thick of It, than the latest twist in the Brexit saga.

A Prime Minister who has negotiated her bespoke Brexit deal with the EU over a two-and-a-halfyear period and repeatedly insisted that it’s literally the only show in town, engineers the Brady amendment to ingratiate herself with cross-party right-wing extremists and urges parliament to vote against her own deal (“May’s plea: If you want Brexit then vote for it”, The Herald, January 30). Parliament duly obliges, a majority of MPS (including the three Brexit ministers) voting for a mythical alternative to the Irish backstop, its lack of substance trumped by the palpable Conservative relief that, temporarily at least, their veneer of unity will allow them to portray the EU negotiators and the Irish Taoiseach as the pantomime villains of the Brexit melodrama.

The right-wing press can now hail the Prime Minister’s ingenuity and demand that the enemy, the EU, solve the Irish border problem created by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in the first place.

The Good Friday Agreement which has been responsible for the peace and stability in Northern Ireland over the last 20 years is being sacrificed on the altar of Brexit by this

Government with no thought of the consequences.

Theresa May, like her predecessor, continually places party before country with potentially devastating effects for all of us in the UK. Our international standing is lower than a limbo dancer’s chin and the Prime Minister’s betrayal of her own deal to secure the support of the European Research Group and the DUP show us who, in reality, is running the country. Indeed, the lunatics are now running the asylum.

Owen Kelly,

8 Dunvegan Drive, Stirling.

WHY did all the non-snp Scottish MPS ignore the wishes of the vast majority of voters in Scotland who backed Remain by failing to support the SNP Brexit amendment on Tuesday evening which rejected a No deal, called for an extension of the Article 50 period and restated that Scotland should not be taken out of the EU against our will (“May’s EU mandate”, The Herald, January 30)?

It’s bad enough that Scottish MP’S cannot vote on English matters (Evel) yet English MPS can defeat a bill designed for Scotland, but we should at least expect our MPS to put Scotland first at Westminster.

Independence would remove the democratic deficit whereby our Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MPS put their London party bosses first rather than standing up for Scotland which is expected to suffer significant economic damage as a result of Brexit.

Mary Thomas,

Watson Crescent, Edinburgh.

A SECOND referendum would not be undemocratic, but the People’s Vote campaign’s leaders have tarnished it with their ulterior motives and obvious attempt to block any kind of Brexit.

I voted Remain and support another referendum on the actual options on the table, as opposed to 2016 campaign promises that never materialised. No deal would be disastrous, causing major job losses in companies exporting to the EU, with many of the newly unemployed benefit-sanctioned into extreme poverty by the Conservatives.

But there are many people in the UK who support it; so excluding it from another referendum would be undemocratic.

A second referendum must also be clearly seen not to try to split the Leave vote to engineer a Remain result.

So it should have two questions. Question One: Leave or Remain? Question Two: If a majority vote Leave then should we leave with Theresa May’s deal, a permanent customs union, or no deal? MPS could add other options to Question Two such as Norway Plus (that is, staying in the Single Market).

This would give the best chance of the majority of MPS and the public supporting another referendum. No MP could say the referendum had not proven what the most voters wanted.

Michel Barnier made clear for the EU that the UK Government or Parliament ruling out no deal will not prevent it resulting if they can’t agree on what they want instead.

A multi-option referendum would give a chance of avoiding it; and would ensure if it happened, it was at least because the majority wanted it. It would also force most MPS to approve the result.

Some have tried to pose a false dichotomy between Labour pushing for a second referendum or a general election. Doing the first would not prevent Jeremy Corbyn tabling more motions of no confidence. The chances of a General Election before Brexit are minuscule with Conservative MPS too scared to after their 2017 shock; and the DUP too happy with a minority government over a barrel, and, as extreme British nationalists, happy to see No Deal. Duncan Mcfarlane,

Beanshields,

Braidwood,

Carluke. FURIOUS that the Commons vote to remove the backstop is another nail in the Indyref2 coffin, Ian Blackford’s dragooning of the Northern Ireland agreement into the Brexit debate was a despicable attempt stir up deep, dangerous feelings in Northern Ireland and Central Scotland.

In the Top 10 of embarrassing SNP rants since the “class of 2015” arrived, Tuesday’s performance sailed in at No.1. That’s some achievement when you already hold the other nine places.

Thankfully DUP leader Nigel Dodds gave a factual, invective-laden masterclass in “hairdrying” the SNP. I hope our own opposition MSPS were watching.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row,

Stonehaven.

MARIANNE Taylor highlights the real value of the EU (“Brexit reveals Germany’s unrequited love for the UK”, The Herald, January 28). In all the arguments about trade, money and immigration during the Brexit debate the EU’S founding purpose has been forgotten; to prevent another war in Europe. Instead of murdering each other on an industrial scale we would as sovereign states, co-operate in a friendly and respectful manner to our mutual benefit.

To my great sadness the UK has often been a quarrelsome member of this great union, somehow feeling that we deserved special consideration because we had liberated Europe in two world wars, albeit with the massive assistance of the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia et al. Even with its imperfections the EU has been overwhelmingly good for this country. Having over many years visited the war cemeteries from two world wars and been made acutely aware of the carnage inflicted, I thank God for a united Europe. Andrew Mitchell,

4 Glenpark Avenue, Prestwick.