I WRITE from a family background of farming throughout Central Scotland, mainly in Stirlingshire and East Lothian, and from a personal involvement in public service for more than 30 years in Edinburgh and south-east Scotland.

Never before in the 60 years of having the right to vote have my wife and I felt so strongly against the party in power at Westminster that we think it necessary to convey our feelings through the media. We have not necessarily always agreed with some of the policy put forward, but have never before felt so endangered in our lifestyle by the present line of thought that we feel a need to express our feeling on the present incumbents.

There are many people better qualified than I am to express their feelings. I read their opinions almost daily in our newspapers which also carry the thoughts of many experienced business people in the country. How is it that those in government at Westminster fail to recognise the concerns of these professionals with regard to the future of their trades and businesses and ultimately for the country? Can they not see that all of this madcap rush to exit Europe will do no good, or do they simply ignore what they do not wish to hear or see?

Even this early the warning bells are sounding, but yet they charge on with no obvious plan, at least none that they are willing to disclose, for the future. The time to have gone through all of this was before the vote on European membership, to allow a proper presentation of meaningful pros and cons to be made to the public, thereby leading to a sensible vote rather than one running high on some promise of "Rule Britannia" in the future.

My trust in all that is going on just now does not lie with the British Government or with any individual in that organisation. Who could be impressed by any one of them? I am much more comfortable with the very capable Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator of the EU, presenting his side of the debate and that will remain to be the case until I see a major shift in the approach from Westminster.

Wonder of wonders: it seems that Michael Gove has suddenly wakened up to the needs of the farming communities in Britain and has "told them" what they have been telling him for ages about the dangers they face in running their businesses without access to workers to harvest fruit and vegetable crops unless quick action was taken to reverse the situation.

Surely it is not too late to get the train back on the rails for the good of the business people and communities of this country and admit that we cannot close off the relationships which have existed over 40 years with 27 other countries in Europe – our biggest trading partners.

Charles E Boulton,

17 Venlaw View, Peebles.

A BUS emblazoned with "Brexit to cost £2,000 million a week" will be in Edinburgh and Glasgow today (February 24), highlighting the madness of Brexit.

The bus has been organised by the Is it Worth It? campaign, and aims to get people to think about the immense negative cost of Brexit, highlighting that it is still possible for the UK to step back from the Brexit brink and remain in the EU.

The £2 billion figure is based on the UK Government's own leaked report that Brexit with a free trade agreement will cost the UK five per cent of GDP after 15 years. For Scotland it estimates almost twice as big a hit at nine per cent.

Scotland therefore stands to lose significantly more than other parts of the UK and Brexit will cause misery to so many Scots – both those whose families have been here for generations and those who have recently decide to make Scotland their home and have already contributed so much to our economy and culture.

Vote Leave's bus falsely claimed that we send the EU £350 million a week when the true cost is more like £200 million a week. Now the Government's own analysis shows the hit to our economy from leaving the EU will be 10 times bigger than the cost of staying in.

Some people may be willing to pay this price for what they see as the benefits of Brexit. But more and more are asking "is it worth it?"

As more and more people change their minds as the economic impacts of Brexit become clearer – and we haven't even left the EU – there is still time for the UK to step back from the cliff edge and halt this needless march to economic oblivion.

Alex Orr,

Flat 2, 77 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.

DURING the election campaign last spring you were kind enough to publish a letter of mine which, I had hoped, drew attention to my receipt of an electoral communication bereft of policy beyond support of Ruth Davidson and opposition to and a second independence referendum. My new MP was barely mentioned.

I see that he is one of the three Scottish MPs who were signatories to the inflammatory Brexit letter to the Prime Minister (“ Surprise move as May asks EU to extend UK transition", The Herald, February 22).As one of the loudest voices in the Commons would he care to explain to his constituents his participation in an action which will undermine virtually every economic enterprise in this area?

KM Campbell,

Bank House, Doune.

THE decision to devolve most of the 111 repatriated powers EU straight to Holyrood suggests Theresa May has forgotten that she was able to form a government in 2017 because she stood up to Nicola Sturgeon, told her she couldn't have another independence referendum – and won 13 Scottish seats. There are millions of votes waiting for the politician who tells the SNP where to get off.

The EU Farm Payments shambles shows that Holyrood, not just the SNP, is no more able to handle EU powers than devolved UK powers, or indeed areas like education, police and the health service that have been administered here for hundreds of years and ruined in the past 20.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.