Boris' Brexit deal is like Boris Bikes, thought of by someone else and carried out badly

"Boris's deal" reminds me of "Boris bikes". For they too were imagined, proposed, planned and developed by his immediate predecessor, only for Johnson to take credit for them within a few weeks of assuming office. There are even many who still believe the original scheme would have been significantly better.

I searched for a word for "one who takes credit for the work of others". Aside from "plagiarist", I was offered "fraud, charlatan and impostor".

Simon Hinks​
Brighton

The big picture is bleak

When Tory Brexiteers keep pleading to “get this over the line” so the “UK can move forwards” they really don't or don't want to understand that for many of us Brexit , by definition, is a disastrous backwards step. There is nothing that will ever reconcile remainers to a leave agenda and the fightback will start straight away. We have to do this for the sake of our children no matter how long it takes.

Simon Watson
Address supplied

We don’t want no independence

The duplicity of the SNP is revealed once again. Previous claims that its MPs' agitation has been all about preventing a damaging no-deal Brexit, now seamlessly change to an equally adamant opposition to Brexit with a deal, once again risking a no-deal outcome.

Equally disingenuous, is the SNP claim that enabling a second independence referendum is in the best interests of the people of Scotland. Wherever people in Scotland stand on the proposition of leaving the UK or not, all can appreciate that the likely outcome of a re-run in the near term could very possibly be finely balanced one way or the other, so leaving Scotland in turmoil, potentially facing the most delicate and difficult of divorce deals to be negotiated, in full knowledge that roughly half the people of Scotland do not want it. It seems for the SNP leadership, no cost, nor risk, is too much to deter them from trying to get their way.

Keith Howell
West Linton, Scottish Borders

Politicians being… Political

There is something ugly about the way the two Brexit MPs, John Baron and Ronnie Campbell, shouted down Liberal Democrat MP, Layla Moran, on Newsnight, saying a second referendum to approve a deal shouldn't happen. She asks them, "What are you so scared of?” Their answer is, essentially, that they are scared of the result.

What if the result is by a slim margin? What if the result is the same? What if we keep having to have referendums? they bleat. They didn’t say (perhaps because they don’t care) what if the union breaks up? which is strong possibility if a hard Brexit with a border in the Irish sea is forced through.

When you live your life through fear (what if?) and a need to treat every decision you make as one that is cast in stone, you need some help. A political career is unlikely to bring you joy. But, one can only admire the ability of Boris Johnson to be a pragmatic politician with all the slipperiness and showmanship that that entails. He was born to do the job.

Alison Hackett
Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin

Lessons from history

It is hard to forget the last time the Commons met on a Saturday following the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands. Then, another old man leading the Labour Party, Michael Foot, goaded an unpopular extreme right wing prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, into sending a naval Task Force down to the South Atlantic.

The fleet succeeded, turning Maggie into a national hero, condemning Foot and Labour to 14 more years in the political wilderness. Following populist policies in the name of patriotism is a simple matter but can lead to years of misery as many of us who lived through the Thatcher years can attest.

Might the same happen if a Saturday sitting of parliament approves of Brexit?

John Polley
Address supplied

A letter of Great Importance

We have just received a copy of a letter to Johnson from the President of the United States of America: surprising how similar it is to his letter to the leader of Turkey:

‘Dear Prime Minister Johnson,

‘Don't bother with a deal! You don't want to be responsible for destroying thousands of people's livelihoods. and I don't want you to be responsible for destroying the UK's economy - but you will. I've already given you a little sample with respect to a trillion pounds of assets that have moved out of the country.

‘I have worked hard to solve some of your problems, body odour, bad breath. Don't let the UK down, carry on the daily washing and use of deodorant. You can make a great deal with the EU by not leaving at all. The EU is willing to negotiate with you, at arm’s length. and is willing to make concessions that they would never have made in the past, if you keep the UK inside. I am confidentially enclosing a copy of their letter to me, just received by pigeon post.

‘History will look, upon you favourably. If you get this done the right and humane way. History will look upon you forever as the devil if you don't stop brexit. Stop being a liar. Don't be a fool all the time!

‘I will call you later, but please use the breath freshener first?

‘Sincerely

‘Donald R Trump’

Joel Josephson
Address supplied