SO, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives and our Secretary of State for Scotland have completed a volte-face and joined with the plotting rabble of Brexiters in threatening the Prime Minister if she goes ahead with a Brexit compromise regarding the position of Northern Ireland ("Davidson and Mundell in quit threat as Brexit talks hit stalemate", The Herald, October 15).

Ruth Davidson holds no position in the UK Government and the prospect of her imminent resignation would probably not keep Mrs May up at night. In addition, the previously compliant and marginalised Mr Mundell holds little or no sway with his colleagues in the Cabinet and the Prime Minister may correctly view his criticism of her as the equivalent of being savaged by the proverbial dead sheep.

Both politicians urge Mrs May not to allow any different conditions or treatment for Northern Ireland as part of a Brexit compromise deal, as this would undermine the integrity of the United Kingdom. Like their dissenting Conservative colleagues, neither of them offers any practical, workable alternative solution to the dilemma posed by the vexatious question of the Irish border.

Northern Ireland must remain in the customs union and single market if a hard border is to be avoided. It is inconceivable to imagine any other resolution to this predicament if the island of Ireland is to maintain the relative peace it has enjoyed over the last 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement.

Ms Davidson and Mr Mundell should consider that Northern Ireland's laws on same-sex marriage, abortion and blasphemy already separate it from the rest of the United Kingdom. By adopting an uncompromising stance on the Irish border some observers may consider that they are endorsing a hard Brexit and sacrificing economic and constitutional common sense in a fallacious spectacle of jingoism.

By teaming up with the more malevolent Brexiters and the self-destructive DUP, Ms Davidson and Mr Mundell risk not only their own political future but their credibility as representatives of the country they purport to belong to.

Owen Kelly,

8 Dunvegan Drive, Stirling.

JUST an observation on David Hay’s letter (October 15); Theresa May will not get “her” money back – it is “our” money.

A friend phoned me stating the DUP should correctly be called the “Northern Irish Tories” because that is who they are. I concurred – in these days of acronyms they would be called NITs – getting in Mrs May’s hair.

Jim Lynch,

42 Corstorphine Hill Crescent, Edinburgh.

THE SNP continues to show a lack of judgment and foresight over Brexit. Once again, seeing a hard Brexit as a path to independence has blinded the SNP to the realities of the situation. The European Union desperately needs the United Kingdom as a trading partner. A "no deal" scenario will hit Brussels probably harder than London. By not supporting Theresa May, the SNP had opened up the field for a victory by Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The UK will forge a good deal out of all this chaos because it will suit both sides. The SNP will be left on the sidelines looking exactly like the reality of a party with slipping support, poor forward thinking, poor internal policy results and a consequent future dismal electoral showing. Independence is not the party's saviour, it is its demise.

Dr Gerald Edwards,

Broom Road, Glasgow.

THE interminable debate about Brexit goes on and on, and surely I am not the only one dismayed and utterly fed up with it. We all know that the British people were conned into voting narrowly for leaving, largely in the mistaken belief that this was essential to protect their jobs against low-paid foreign immigrants from eastern Europe, and also that the British government was being forced to introduce whatever laws and rules were handed down from Brussels. In fact every Brussels decision had to be ratified by the UK government and parliament, and this was usually done “on the nod” without any proper debate or discussion by elected MPs.

Now Theresa May’s primary objective is simply to hold together the warring factions of her own divided party at Westminster, just in order to stay in power as long as possible. What is in the best long-term interests of the country and its 60 million citizens is of secondary importance and of little interest to her. I am sure that governments and sensible people in Europe and around the world must be shaking their heads in disbelief at such a stupid act of long-term economic self-harm.

The only slender hope remaining is that the British electorate is given the opportunity to have the final say on any exit deal finally negotiated (granted?), and that this time the long-term benefits of continued membership are fully explained and given an equal and proper airing in the debate. I’m not holding my breath.

Iain A D Mann,

7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.

PERHAPS Mary Thomas (Letters, October 13) would justify her assertion that the 2014 No vote was built on a tissue of lies. I am some four years older, and struggle to recall any detail of this alleged tissue.

David Miller,

80 Prestonfield, Milngavie.

PHILIP Adams (Letters, October 13) suggests that we should give Brexit and other referenda a chance to "work out", and reminds us that the UK was a member of the EU for almost 50 years. Why on earth should Scotland be expected to endure 50 years of economic hardship waiting for Brexit to "work out" when we didn't vote for it? Scotland has already lost almost 50 years of oil revenues, suffers from a procession of UK governments we never voted for and has no independent voice in the world due to being stuck in a 300-year-old union which didn't "work out" before Brexit, and most certainly will not "work out" after we have been dragged out of the EU against our will.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.

I AM dismayed at the lack of critique of the SNP's position on Europe. Italy is currently being told by the EU that it cannot have a budget deficit of more than two per cent, and so it is forced to cut public services. Scotland's deficit is around eight per cent, which would mean diabolical cuts if Nicola Sturgeon got her way. Why is the SNP allowed to attack the UK union and praise the EU union without any serious questioning by the media?

Jenna Jones,

Great Western Road, Glasgow.