The best way to get to a hard Brexit is to ensure there is no deal

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Jacob Rees-Mogg is simply warming up to say that Europe didn’t give us what we wanted, even though nobody told them what this was (Rex)

Reading your article, “Brexit: Theresa May faces fury from Eurosceptic Tories over lack of no deal-planning”, I could not help but think this is the latest attempt to launch us onto the road to Brextremistan.

The omnishambles surrounding the Brexiteers’ promises will become more apparent (such as the Irish border or extra money for the NHS) as time goes by. Brexit must happen before the British people have an opportunity to change their minds.

I believe this is why our “strong and stable” government cannot agree its negotiating position. Indecision is not due to incompetence; it articulates Brextremist brilliance. The best way to get a hard Brexit is to ensure there is no deal. The best way to ensure no deal is to fail to negotiate. The Brexiteers will even try to blame the EU for the economic chaos we inflict upon ourselves. Jacob Rees-Mogg is simply warming up to say that Europe didn’t give us what we wanted, even though nobody told them what this was.

While the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road to Brextremistan is paved with vitriol, lies and the intent to negotiate in bad faith.

John Young
Edinburgh

The neoliberal greed of the City never changes

As ever, Chris Blackhurst gives an insightful view into the City and how the minds of the financiers and hedge fund managers who run our economy really work. I'm old enough to remember the same thing happening when Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan came to power – the big money vanished abroad. Only by promising to pursue the same monetarist policies as the previous Conservative government did Tony Blair and Gordon Brown prevent this recurring under New Labour.

The patriotism of these City folk seems to be only wallet deep, to be abandoned as soon as they think it might affect their profits, made – let's be honest – not from the sweat of their brow but by gambling and speculation, such is the nature of our economy today.

John McDonnell's vision of a socialist Britain may not be the answer but neither, surely, is the brand of amoral, self-interested neoliberalism we have now, where the grasping and greedy award themselves eyewatering levels of remuneration simply because they can, while the "working poor" fight for the crumbs. Whatever happened to "trickle down"?

Patrick Moore
Bloxham

Skripals' recovery should remain private

When did it become acceptable for hospital staff to discuss publicly the state of their patients’ health? These matters were once considered confidential. Presumably when the police started to take it upon themselves to comment and express opinions about the outcome of criminal trials!

Anthony Ingleton
Sheffield

Get kids to walk

Reading the article about the 15 minute walking/running session being trialled in some Scottish primary schools, it occurred to me that even greater gains could be made by getting more of the kids to actually walk to and from school rather than being driven - with extra benefits for the health of their parents and reduced traffic congestion and pollution!

Mike Margetts
Kilsby, Northamptonshire

Italian motives remain unclear

Almost three months ago a majority of the Italian people gave their vote to the League and the Five Star Movement, two populist parties, known to be Eurosceptic and anti-illegal migration. Their plans to form a government have been thwarted by the unprecedented intervention of the president, Sergio Mattarella, who has received support from both the EU and Italy’s neighbours. Is this a reaction to preserve the country’s democracy from irresponsible, extremist political leaders or a coup d’etat orchestrated by national and external financial interests?

Peter Fieldman
Madrid

Boris Johnson’s so-called ‘realm of gold’ is an illusion

For an allegedly intelligent man, Boris Johnson displays an amazing lack of understanding of basic mathematics and economics. He claims that Latin American countries represent a “realm of gold” for Britain post Brexit. However, if you add together the GDP for all South American countries, it amounts to around $3.8 trillion (£2.9 trillion) while the GDP for the EU is around $17.1 trillion. So he wants to exchange easy access to one market, for difficult (logistically) access to one less than a quarter in size. What planet does he live on?

Antony Robson
Westbury

My husband and I travelled to Peru only last year and commented on the fact that the many of the cars being driven around were German cars. Being a member of the EU hasn’t stopped Germany developing trade with non-EU countries. But then the UK exported £284bn worth of goods to countries outside of the EU in 2016 and exported £235.8bn to countries within the EU. You would think that the UK had completely ceased trading with countries outside of the EU with the comments coming from some of our Brexit-promoting MPs!

Linda Johnson
Beverley