Swiss cheers

With a further six-month extension to Brexit and the can being kicked even further down the road, it was intriguing to note that the result of a nationwide referendum in Switzerland had been overturned.

The poll, held in February 2016, asked voters whether married couples and cohabiting partners should pay the same tax. Voters narrowly rejected the proposal, with 50.8 per cent against and 49.2 per cent in favour.

But the supreme court has voided the result on the grounds that voters were not given full information, and the vote must be rerun. The information provided to the electorate was judged “incomplete” and “violated the freedom of the vote”, the court ruled.

During the referendum campaign, the Swiss government told voters that just 80,000 married couples were paying more tax than couples living together. The true figure was almost half a million, the government later said.the court’s statement noted that “keeping in mind the close result and the severe nature of the irregularities, it is possible that the outcome of the ballot could have been different”.

How refreshing this is, as we look to the current situation in the UK, where voters were likewise not given the full information. The negative economic impacts of Brexit are becoming clearer and Brexiteer claims of £350

million a week to the NHS and that a deal with the EU would be “the easiest in human history” have quickly melted away.

Reality has struck, public reaction has changed and there is clear support not only for a People’s Vote but for staying in the EU. As with Switzerland, now the circumstances have changed, we deserve the right to have our say.

ALEX ORR Marchmont Road, Edinburgh

As equal partners in a union, Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus have had more influence on the Brexit extension compromise than Scotland. With 74 per cent of Scottish voters now supporting Remain, it is essential that this option is included in a People’s Vote rather than just a deal cooked up by Tory and Labour leaderships that want to leave.

The Labour party is comfortable with ending freedom of movement, which is far more important to Scotland than to RUK, but many supporters will join the former Scottish Labour chair Jamie Glackin, who tweeted that he would be part of a wave of departures under such circumstances.

Labour supporters in Scotland will be further frustrated that in a House of Commons debate on Wednesday not a single Scottish Labour MP voted against nuclear weapons, despite non-renewal of Trident being the policy of Richard Leonard’s party.

Challenged on this, Labour’s shadow defence minister, Wayne David, replied: “The policy which counts is the policy of the British Labour Party.”

Until such time as Labour in Scotland embraces independence and thereby influences big issues, they will never regain the trust of their traditional core voters.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent , Edinburgh

My feelings towards the recent Brexit non-developments have changed inevitably in the light of the ongoing shambles in Westminster. Nearly three years of listening to the Tories’

mantra of “taking back control” and “Brexit means Brexit”, and it’s abundantly clear that neither is the case.

After a period of anger at us being forced to leave against the will of the Scottish and Northern Irish people, the subsequent hapless attempts of Theresa May and her predominantly white, middleaged

male Tory party and their desperate splenetic posturing now just make me laugh and helps prepare me for the years of economic and cultural isolation to follow.

Should a deal or no-deal ever take place I will almost miss the ranting, spluttering and swivel-eyed hyperbolic melodrama of the Tory

benches. At least we’ve got another six months of it to look forward to.

D MITCHELL Coates Place, Edinburgh

Tory MP Mark Francois has been mentioned as a serious leadership contender. Perhaps to bolster his chances, he has threatened the EU with “perfidious Albion on speed’’ should they prove awkward over Brexit, presumably in an attempt to gain backing from the right of his party.

It seems clear that Mr Francois is totally unaware what “perfidious’’ means in this context – perhaps he imagines it to be some kind of macho, tough guy description of the UK, not, in fact, the treacherous and untrustworthy description of the country that it is. Ignorance is indeed bliss.

It is another case of mouth being engaged before brain, so common to politicians of all colours.

ALEXANDER MCKAY New Cut Rigg, Edinburgh