Tories can bluster all they like, but they’re caught between rock and a hard place

An air of total unreality has descended on the Tory Conference. Ministers tell us that people are getting behind Chequers to show the European Union that the Brits are resolute and know their rights (although these rights would infringe the rights and ethos of the EU).

Boris Johnston thinks he can build a bridge to Ireland but the DUP insist that his approach would not even build a metaphorical bridge (that party won’t support a Tory government that allows Northern Ireland to be treated differently from the rest of the UK).

Boris Johnston thinks he can beg for a longer transition and for plusses on his Canada-type deal. But the EU shows little sign of wanting to reward this arch troublemaker.

If Boris is not deflated then every lying anti-eu politician in Europe will be inflated. Guy Verhofstadt, the EU Brexit chief, has warned that the Tories will not be rescued from a mess of their own making, and that talks will not be extended.

After all, Boris Johnson’s Canada-type deal does not solve the problems of delays for British lorries at ports, due to Custom Duties. So it provides little to satisfy worried business leaders in the UK or realistic politicians in Europe.

And so we hear the last hurrah of “the strong and stable” –Jeremy Hunt sticks his boot in hard, comparing the EU with the Soviets, Boris Johnston wanders impressively through a field – so he can mock Theresa May. And Priti Patel demolishes “Corbyn’s vile brand of socialism” (failing to consider that nothing could be more vile than her government’s crude approach to benefits seekers). In reality they can bluster all they like, but increasingly they face a rock and a hard place.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh

The Boris interpretation of the EU referendum is to see it as support for his hard Brexit. If the result had been, say, 66 per cent or 70 per cent for Leave, then he may have a point. However, the vote was close, and everyone seems to forget that all this will be over one day, and we will all have to live together.

As the country is split down the middle, a soft Brexit would be the wiser option ( although Brexit there must be ), which seems to be on offer from Mrs May! WILLIAM BALLANTINE

Dean Road Bo’ness, West Lothian