RICHARD Gordon's letter (October 18) with his presumed EU tactics of forcing the people to vote again is well wide of the mark. The EU will not interfere in our democratic system and I understand that in spite of UK politicians having meetings with Michel Barnier they asked to come, they were not invited. No EU politician has arrived in the UK to talk to Theresa May unless they are being helpful to her. The EU is unhappy for the UK to leave, but, as it says, that’s a decision for us alone. The EU will only provoke anger in the UK if it indulges in the sort of stuff he suggests and it will be counterproductive. The EU is leaving us to dig our own hole, and it is getting deeper.

Mrs May's meeting with the EU ministers was, as expected, unsuccessful, again ("Kiss goodbye to a Brexit breakthrough, Mrs May", The Herald, October 18). Frankly I don’t know which planet she inhabits but everyone and their dog knows that her ideas have run out of traction completely in spite of her own relentless upbeat statements of progress and specifically that her Chequers proposals are still alive; that is ludicrous, they are dead in the water, except that they keep surfacing in every conversation.

However, as she keeps plugging the same old guff including the Irish border proposal which nobody believes in, she takes up an old offer of Mr Barnier’s – to extend the transition period. It’s a version of buying time, kicking the can down the road by simply extending the road. So nothing has changed except that she borrows more time to do what the UK is best at, sweetening up/bribing any dissenters in the EU contingent to "get the votes in" and undermine the position of Mr Barnier’s negotiating committee and similarly on the home front to threaten any potential opposition. I note that Dominic Raab has written to MPs warning them that any Commons debates and votes should not undermine the final piece of legislation that implemented the deal. But things will change, I suspect. On the most contentious issue – the Irish question – Arlene Foster and the DUP are in control and are being difficult. Ms Foster recently stated that "the Good Friday Agreement was not sacrosanct” – possibly just an off the cuff remark but full of intent, that perhaps there were issues in there which might be reset to the DUP's advantage and persuade them to accept the so-far unacceptable notion of an illusory border or a never-ending backstop. I am simply waiting on further concessions to the DUP, perhaps along these lines, to get it on board or for Ms Foster to fall under a bus. More opposition bought off.

Both of these events signal the direction of travel on future proposals; principles no longer matter it’s about votes, many will come at a price but the principal stakeholders, the British voters, will not get one under any circumstances.

I was intrigued to hear that David Mundell, after his latest I will/ I will not resign statement, has vowed to “defend Scotland’s place in the Union until my last breath” ("Under-fire Mundell vows to defend the integrity of UK ‘until my dying breath’", The Herald, October 18), Nothing about Brexit, the People's Vote, Northern Ireland, hard/soft Brexit. It is about a second independence referendum, isn't it? Is this all that this man can talk about?

Ian McLaren,

27 Buchanan Drive, Lenzie.

DAVID Mundell claims that he would "defend Scotland's place in the Union" with his last breath, however Mr Mundell neglects to remind us that with 59 Westminster seats out of 650, Scotland's place in the Union means always getting the governments England elects, fighting the foreign wars Westminster governments choose to fight, leaving the EU although we don't want to, and providing the dumping ground for the UK's entire nuclear arsenal. Scotland's place in the Union sees foodbanks flourishing in our oil-rich country, while Scotland with a population of five million has no seat at the United Nations; but there is a seat for Finland with a size of population similar to Scotland, a seat for Malta which has a population of just over 400,000, and one for Monaco with a population of 38,000. Nobody considers Finland, Malta or Monaco to be too small, too poor or too stupid to be members of the United Nations; and although big enough, rich enough and smart enough to join them, Scotland's place in the Union means that currently we can't.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.

UK Cabinet rebels threaten to resign once more over Brexit and presumably by so doing put the Prime Minister under pressure. Nigel Farage "demands’’ action from the sidelines and our own opportunistic First Minister adds her tuppenceworth to the chorus turning on the wounded leader, presumably thinking she can pick up some crumbs from the table.

In truth, if the Cabinet rebels, presumably including Liam Fox, Esther McVey and Penny Mourdant, and join David Davis and Boris Johnson in quitting, few would even notice the loss and perhaps Ms May could make some real headway with better replacements. She need only mention Jeremy Corbyn and that should help concentrate minds. Giving in to such nonentities is tantamount to surrender.

For the record, I voted Remain but accept the 2014 and 2016 referendum results as the democratic will of the people of the UK and Scotland.

Alexander McKay,

8/7 New Cut Rigg, Edinburgh.

WITH some kind of botched Brexit deal delayed, it's perhaps time to reflect on the last few disastrous years of elections, referendums and of course the continuing chaos of Brexit. In Westminster there has been incompetence on a grand scale with divided and indecisive leadership and false promises from a privileged and rich elite establishment in decline.

I believe most of us know in our hearts and minds that the kind of Scotland we want to live in and pass on to our children is no longer possible within the centralised constraints of a narrow, inward-looking UK that has no regard for the devolved parliaments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and indeed that of the European Union.

I therefore urge people to join their local Yes campaign group under the auspices of the Scottish Independent Convention, which is the all-inclusive national organisation and work towards a fairer and more prosperous country for the benefit of those who live and work in our richly endowed land.

Grant Frazer,

Cruachan, Newtonmore.