When all is said and done, will we return to No Deal as the last and best option?

The time has surely come to think the unthinkable. Brexit is now vulnerable to the machinations of unelected EU Commissioners, and is exposed to manipulation by the UK parliament, most of whose members favour Remain, in denial of having accepted the electorate’s mandate to get us out of the EU.

Before irrevocable steps are taken that might cause more serious divisions there are several misconceptions that need to be recognised.

First is the reference to “The Withdrawal Agreement”. The EU began using this term to describe what was then, and remains, no more than a draft. It was approved by the EU 27 but has been roundly rejected twice by the UK.

And it is not “Theresa May’s Deal”. It is the EU’S ultimatum imposed on her ever since they refused any further negotiation of the text. This is not how negotiating parties show goodwill.

Second is the assumption that a second referendum would reverse the first. That is not guaranteed; it might confirm the first and waste months of effort to achieve nothing. If it did reverse the first the fall-out would involve years of mistrust of the body politic.

Third, the objective is not merely to withdraw somehow; it is to place ourselves in the most advantageous position to negotiate new trade agreements with the European Union and world-wide.

Our focus needs to be longterm, not on the present difficulties.

Fourth, the emotive language used to decry the No Deal option has been widely accepted as if it were true. It is opinion only, borne of Project Fear, and many senior economists do not share that opinion.

No sensible negotiator takes options off the table before concluding the deal. There would distinct advantages in choosing to leave without a deal. Business cries out for certainty; to be out of the EU with no strings attached would provide it. Negotiations under World Trade Organisation rules would support it, and a fresh team of more bullish negotiators representing the UK could regain international respect.

Fifth, in the event of a No Deal exit the Irish border question would be for the EU to solve. We would not need controls, but they might.

When all other indicative votes have been exhausted, perhaps wisdom will lead back to the No Deal option as the only one that would achieve the desired outcome.

GEOFF MILLER Newtyle, Blairgowrie

As a believer in fulfilling democratic decisions and someone who voted to leave the EU, my response to remainers who are expressing near apoplectic joy at the size of the parliamentary petition to revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU is; after all the names of those who are ineligible to vote, including those from Russia, China, North Korea, Europe and elsewhere in the world have been removed from the petition and the total of genuine voters comes to 17.4 million + 1 I will then take it seriously.

PAUL LEWIS Guardwell Crescent, Edinburgh