WITH Theresa May’s Brexit deal yet again failing to get through the House of Commons, there is an inevitability that there will be a delay to the date the UK is due to leave the EU.

However, one wonders what good an extension will actually do given the negotiating position of both the EU and the UK. The UK is deadlocked, in terms of its people, Parliament and Cabinet and the likelihood of any semblance of a deal that commands the majority of the House of Commons is unlikely. This is especially true given the deep divisions within the Tories, both Remainers and Leavers, as well as opposition from the DUP.

Given this situation those like myself have long argued that a UK-wide referendum on the deal, now that we know its contents, with the option to remain in the EU, is the only credible way to break this deadlock.

As David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary and an ardent Leaver, pointed out before the EU referendum: “If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy.”

There are few I know who voted for Brexit in the belief it would make them poorer, and it is up to the public to give its view on whether the deal, and more importantly its implications, are what it wants.

For once I agree with Jacob Rees-Mogg who previously supported a vote on the renegotiated settlement. A statement he now curiously seems to have forgotten.

The Scottish Parliament has led the way in backing a People’s Vote and now that we know the precise nature of the deal, it is up to the public to have its say.

Alex Orr,

Flat 3, 2 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh.

THE intransigence of the EU is breathtaking. The way forward must therefore be either no deal now, or a second referendum that respects the result of the first and poses only two questions, Theresa May's deal or no deal.

This might just be a wake up call to the SNP, which needs to be far more aware of the straightjacket EU membership would lead to if Scotland were independent. Maybe even at this late stage, the SNP will realise we are better together and call off indyref2 and its awful consequences for Scotland.

EU membership is no magic cure, it is simply another headache.

Dr Gerald Edwards,

Broom Road, Glasgow.

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AS the Brexit fiasco gets more ridiculous every day, the present focus seems to be entirely on “the backstop”. However we seem to be forgetting why the UK (not Scotland or Northern Ireland) voted to leave Europe. You will recall that big red bus, much was made of the “vast” sums of money we were handing over to the EU every week, with no mention of what was returned in the way of subsidies to farming and fishing. also capital contributions to a plethora of infrastructure and other projects throughout the UK.

I have just received my tax code notification for the next financial year; on the back page of this document there is a pie chart showing how my tax contributes to public spending. Under “UK contribution to the EU budget" I am paying £14, or 0.68 per cent of the total.This segment of the chart is so small that it appears as virtually a single line.

So, for the price of a pizza and a wee glass of wine I am being dragged out of the EU against my will, and my European citizenship gone.

At least I’ve still got my UK citizenship and a passport, unlike our European friends who have lived, worked and paid taxes here for many years and and are now facing distressing uncertainty over their future.

The politicians who are allowing this to happen are a disgrace, and will not be forgiven for destroying our economy and the rights we have enjoyed for more than 40 years.

Angus Ferguson,

120 Hutton, Glasgow.

THE Prime Minister's own political survival has surely now been dealt irreversible damage and a no- deal Brexit which critically endangers our economy, democracy and international standing, will, almost certainly, be rejected by our parliamentarians.

Following a likely extension to Article 50 this week, the country will remain in a political and constitutional paralysis, with a moribund Prime Minister, and a divided Government and Opposition. The call for a second referendum may now result in even more instability and uncertainty in the country and even invoke civil unrest.

David Cameron left Mrs May with the ultimate poisoned chalice. She has failed to negotiate the Brexit maze and deliver a deal that even superficially unites the British people.

Her only recourse now is to call a General Election to let the people decide what path to follow democratically. Her resignation will, irrespective of the result, inevitably follow.

Owen Kelly,

8 Dunvegan Drive, Stirling.

AS the Brexit clock ticks away, hardliners who will not accept any deal other than simply walking away, will likely find the SNP joining them in the voting lobby. Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues are determined to see nothing good in any plan the UK proposes. Instead of course they seek to link Brexit and independence. Amongst other things, this includes the knowingly misleading assumption that those in the majority who voted to stay in the UK in 2014, and who went on to vote Remain in 2016, would somehow support the SNP’s demand to break-up the UK on the promise of a possible future in the EU ("SNP pushes for power to hold Indyref2 if Brexit does go ahead", The Herald, March 11).

As leading figures in the independence movement are falling out amongst themselves over just how much austerity they are willing to accept to join the EU, we must hope that as Ms Sturgeon demands the power to call an independence referendum rerun, she has the good grace to be honest about the very real prospect of separating from the UK only to find we are also left stranded outside of the EU.

Keith Howell,

White Moss, West Linton, Peeblesshire.