THE EU must have been as shocked as many in the UK at the result of the vote to leave, even though the EU policy was to tie member countries with ever-increasing cords to prevent a departure. In its eyes the UK is an essential constituent of its project, consequently it has used every tactic to prevent the UK from leaving. It is unwilling to negotiate because that might give the green light to other disgruntled members.

I perceive that now its tactic is to attempt to take the whole negotiation to a cliff edge in order to try to force the UK Government to go to the people again in the hope that the previous decision will be overturned. The EU gave David Cameron very little because it has tunnel vision as to the project’s end, so it will not alter tack in the future.

The people voted to break the cords and that should be the final result. One outcome will be a reduction in the number of trans-continental lorry journeys which will benefit the environment greatly and hopefully manufacturing will reorganise to be much more localised.

Richard Gordon,

11 Hawley Road, Falkirk.

THERESA May attempted to embolden the Cabinet by exhorting its members to stand firm, assuring them they would succeed in Brexit after last Monday’s debacle ("May tells Cabinet to stand firm amid growing talk of plot to oust her", The Herald, October 17). Stand firm over what, one might ask? And with what?

Chequers has been rejected by the EU. The Cabinet outwardly stood firm on that. On the Irish backstop-plus demand from the EU, the Prime Minister stood firm, backed by the DUP holding a political gun at her head, and did not accept it. The EU sent the PM back to the drawing board to think again and return with a new plan reminding the Westminster Government that a withdrawal deal must be agreed before the future relationship can be considered.

The general trend since Article 50 was activated shows the EU disposes of proposals it does not accept.

It says No. The Cabinet can only accept or redo.

Standing firm, even being strong and stable (which her Cabinet is not), is to no avail.

John Edgar,

1a Langmuir Quadrant, Kilmaurs.

THE authors of our present political turmoil are the present Prime Minister and her predecessor, both of whom must take full responsibility for the results of ill-judged decisions and, in the case of the former, her management of the results. The most divisive event of June 2016 has consequences which are, after almost 30 months of “negotiation” by a motley group of solely party-orientated appointees, no longer within the control of our Government. To make matters worse the people most affected, with one or two exceptions, are being quite deliberately kept in ignorance of what if anything has been agreed or compromised in meetings with the EU negotiators.

That is unacceptable and the time is fast running out for the continued patience of everyone outside Westminster.

John Hamilton,

G/2, 1 Jackson Place, Bearsden.

TO be aggrieved at Scotland being torn from the EU against its will is legitimate. It is the First Minister's job to derive the best possible outcome for Scotland from the negotiations. For Martin Redfern (Letters, October 17) to believe that anything as disruptive as Brexit can be interpreted as a bonus for anyone, far less the independence movement, reveals his blind faith in Westminster and a total lack of political, economic and social insight.

Colin Campbell,

Braeside, Shuttle Street, Kilbarchan.

A FAVOURITE ploy of Unionists like Martin Redfern is to personalise the issue of Scottish independence on the current leader of the SNP. I (and many others) were proselytising for Scottish independence before Nicola Sturgeon was born. Far from being a voice in the wilderness, she shares her “UK break-up dreams” with around half the population of Scotland (and rising).

Mary McCabe,

25 Circus Drive Glasgow.

I WAS rather bemused by the rank hypocrisy of a tweet from the UK Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, commenting that we “must not forget the heart-breaking famine in Yemen”.

It should be noted that the UK has nearly doubled the value of arms sales to countries on the government’s own list of human rights abusers in the past year.

This includes sales to Saudi Arabia, currently embroiled in a bloody conflict in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The conflict has seen thousands of civilians killed and millions left in need of aid. It has been estimated that these arms sales totalled £1.13bn.

At this very moment UK-made fighter jets and bombs are playing a central role in the Saudi-led destruction of Yemen, and the Government and arms companies have totally failed to monitor or evaluate how this deadly equipment is being used.

Given the impact they are having there should be an immediate suspension of arms exports by the UK Government. What Yemen needs is a ceasefire, a political settlement and food aid, not more bombing.

The rank hypocrisy of the UK Government and Mr Hunt, happy to cry crocodile tears over the loss of life in Yemen, while actively selling arms which are creating such hardship, is truly appalling.

Alex Orr,

Flat 3, 2 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh.

IT’S a great pity that Dame Laura Cox, investigating bullying and harassment (some of it of a sexual nature) in the UK Parliament, was prohibited by her terms of reference from naming names: including those of “serial offenders” ("‘Bullying thrives at Westminster’", The Herald, October 16).

They say that sunshine is the best disinfectant, but as we have seen before with the expenses scandal, Westminster prefers to hide its sleaze from the public gaze. Many MPs will be aware who the perpetrators are, but for them, “omerta” rules.

GR Weir,

17 Mill Street, Ochiltree.

A PROPOS of just about everything that is going on at the moment, does anyone know where the main power switch is for UK plc and its subsidiaries? If so, could they please switch it to the off position, leave things for a few minutes and then switch it back on again? Maybe then, just maybe, such an act of rebooting would have the desired effect of injecting a much-needed rebalancing dose of sanity into the nation’s collective psyche.

Alastair Patrick,

3 Pentland Crescent, Paisley.