IT often seems that there's not room for the proverbial fag paper between the extreme right and extreme left in politics. Jeremy Corbyn's latest action ("Labour is accused of delivering Brexit 'by any means necessary'", The Herald, May 16) has certainly exemplified this.

He has been unflagging in his support for the Brexit fanatics in the Tory Party, denying the wishes of most of his supporters. His earlier ploy to further the extreme right-wing cause, by refusing to support a further vote on leaving the EU, must be one of the most shameful abuses of democracy for a long time.

It is now obvious that he has found a suitable set of weasel words to allow him to whip his party into allowing Theresa May's dreadful deal to slip through. What would the true advocates of democratic socialism like the late John Smith be feeling? Betrayal seems like the most appropriate word.

The extreme right gave the world Hitler and Pinochet. The extreme left, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. What portents for the future with Mr Corbyn?

Dr RM Morris, Ellon.

IF the SNP does not win the European elections by a landslide, something will be terribly wrong. In all my many years of observing politics I have never known the main parties to be so divided and so badly led. They have left an open goal so wide a Brexit bus could get through. For all their grasping and distasteful political opportunism, the SNP at least has a clear message.

What could sour its inevitable victory would be another shameful anti-Farage demonstration by the SNP’s lunatic fringe – a la Royal Mail outrage of a couple of years back. Then they tried to prevent another view being put forward. No matter how distasteful they may think Nigel Farage’s views to be, he has every right within the law to express them in a free society; this is not a police state.

And we should not forget that more than a million Scots voted for Leave.

Alexander McKay,

Edinburgh EH6.

AS opposing factions within the SNP gather around either SNP MP Joanna Cherry or Nicola Sturgeon, will the independence cause do to the SNP what Brexit has done to the Tories and Labour – and tear it apart ("‘Bully row’ MP posts about backstabbing on Twitter", The Herald, May 16)?

Ms Cherry is firmly in the Salmond camp and much more of the "just go for it" mindset with regard to indyref2, whereas the cautious Ms Sturgeon would rather wait until she's more confident of victory, and of Downing Street's prior agreement.

The SNP was once famous for its unity; no longer it seems.

Martin Redfern,

Edinburgh EH10.

IT is not just Theresa May who is hanging on to her leadership ("May hangs on for make-or-break vote on bill", The Herald, May 16) Nicola Sturgeon, who was always bullish about how united the Scottish National Party was under her leadership, is heading for stormy waters too.

No political party has ever been able to truly speak with one voice. The very nature of politics is adversarial. It seems that 12 years of power have exposed the splits in the SNP.

Alex Salmond still wields enormous influence, even from the wilderness, and this factor is coming more and more into play with SNP decisions. This internal wrangling has very major implications for the future direction of Scotland. It starts with next week's "irrelevant" European parliament elections which are taking on a significance not thought of beforehand. The SNP's key position that the vast majority of Scots want to remain in Europe is being skewed by its push that any vote for it is, in effect, a vote for independence. Ms Sturgeon could well be in a very exposed situation in a week's time.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow G77.

Read more: Theresa May agrees to set leaving date after Brexit vote

TODAY I received a batch of EU election leaflets through the post. The SNP, the Greens, and even Labour made valid points as regards these elections. But the Tories? It was more or less all about Nicola Sturgeon and "no to Indyref 2". How pathetic is that? Also, does Ruth Davidson think it’s OK for Theresa May to have four attempts to get her scheme’ through Paliament while the independence movement is denied even a second chance in vastly changed circumstances? My message is simple: don’t vote Tory (or Brexit Party or Ukip).

Ian Baillie,

Alexandria.

RUTH Davidson: same old, same old.

Bill Calder,

Galashiels.

SOME things are incontrovertible.

1. A second referendum is pointless: the House of Commons can pass nothing. Two-tirds are Remainers, including the Prime Minister

2. Theresa May's deal is dead; a bad deal; all the detail still to resolve. France wants to continue to fish our waters; Spain wants Gibraltar. A veto from either wins the day.

3. A better deal is impossible: the EU won't give it, it knows it need not.

4. The EU wants a hard border: we do not. It is where it is; we police our ports and coasts as we think fit.

5. What they are saying is: you can't leave because we would not have a hard border. Remainers have swallowed this.

Conclusion: We have to leave with no deal: their border problems are theirs.

We have had enough time to prepare for no deal. To recover our sovereignty, totally, it is worth our while to spend billions covering our problems. Having no bar on our trading is best. The EU will be desperate to trade when we go. Their loss is eight times ours. Some recovery of our selling to them is inevitable. But we do not need them; should not depend on them, for they have treated us very badly, sought to punish us for leaving, never intended by the rules. These should be torn up.

What country would join the EU if it had known it would not be allowed make new trade deals till it had left? And if its obligations, with no compensation for what we had put in for 40 years, had to be paid in future for things now of no benefit to us? That is unreasonable. A one-sided divorce. Indecent to an old friend like the UK which stood alone for years in the Second World War defending the countries of Europe which had been engulfed by a monstrous master race. And won, at a huge cost in our blood and treasure. The EU is the monster now and is punishing us with that deal.

Action: Deselect MPs who have acted to pass amendments barring no deal. That killed our negotiation. No deal was the strongest card in our hand.

"No deal is better than a bad deal." It is an even better deal now than it was three years ago. Far better, in fact our democracy is on its knees because of our failure.

William Scott, Rothesay.