Boris Johnson is wrong – the only chaos Britain will see will come as a result of no-deal Brexit

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Boris Johnson is kicking our democracy in the head relentlessly and without any conscience. It’s time to hit back hard. Extreme measures invite extreme responses, and given his determination to push through a no-deal Brexit, alongside Michel Barnier’s confirmation that the backstop is non-negotiable, the door must now be open to justifiably Revoke Article 50 to bring back calm to the nation, protect the unity of the UK, safeguard our economy and put a stop to his absurd spending on the biggest Tory white elephant of all time.

Brexit should never have gotten this far given its entirely speculative and unfounded origins, the muddled mix of lies and issues introduced into the 2016 campaign, and the repeated attacks on our democracy launched by a series of extreme right MPs.

A properly elected PM would be putting his or her head on the block with conduct of this kind, let alone an unelected, pompous, arrogant “little big man” with delusions of grandeur, and a penchant for a “little Britain” style of kingdom, alongside an endless squandering of wealth borne of our hard work through years of unwarranted, Tory-imposed austerity.

Article 50 should be revoked at once, pending a full investigation into the behaviour of this atrocious and vile self-serving party and its mini-me leadership.

Leading people requires a measure of decency and integrity. Leading a great nation demands much more besides.

This bunch have no more integrity than the dead kipper Johnson tried to deceive us with.

Revoke, hold them to account, and put the Brexit issue to a properly informed, confirmatory referendum, with a view to whatever measured steps are then deemed most conducive to fulfilling its proper mandate.

This shabby Tory party should be outlawed as an enemy to the state.

Tolerance has proper boundaries too.

Michael Cunliffe
Ilkley

Voters, don’t forget what happened

Regardless of what happens next week when the next election is called, will voters remember who got us into the dreadful state we are now in?

The referendum was called by a Conservative prime minister, negotiations were carried out by a Conservative prime minister, the deal was agreed and signed by a Conservative prime minister and it was the self-serving actions of Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson who, with fellow Conservatives like Jacob Rees-Mogg, voted against their own Conservative deal in order to advance their own careers and economic positions.

Past experience suggests we will see the right wing press attack and blame everybody except the real culprits, namely the Conservative Party. Will voters listen to these voices from the past and reward Conservatives for their dishonesty? Will they look back and remember what they have witnessed: a group of people who put themselves and their party before the country, whose actions may well destroy the Union with Scotland and Northern Ireland and condemned most of us to a poorer future? Or will they “take back control” and vote for true change and get rid of them once and for all?

John Simpson
Ross on Wye

We voted for no-deal Brexit

The MPs who are trying to stop no deal by saying that the people who voted for Brexit did not vote for no deal are wrong. In the leaflet sent to every household by the government at a cost of £9m, the people were told by the government that in effect we would have no trade deal with the EU if we left the EU.

Quote “The Government judges it could result in 10 years or more of uncertainty as the UK unpicks our relationship with the EU and renegotiates new arrangements with the EU and over 50 other countries around the world.”

We were advised to accept the deal that David Cameron had negotiated with the EU. This would suggest that in voting to leave the EU the people voted for no deal.

Ben Johnson
Address supplied

Restoring democracy

Your editorial argues that only a final say in another referendum will restore democracy. When the Liberal Democrats, among others who campaign for a second referendum, have explicitly stated that they will not accept the result if the vote is again to leave the EU, it is difficult to see how this will bring matters to a conclusion.

Julian Gall
Godalming

Liar, liar

I share some of John Rentoul’s reservations about the press using the terms “lie” or “liar”, and agree that the facts should speak for themselves. However, the press could do a lot more to make sure those facts were clear.

The notion of balance does not mean finding one person to say something is true and another to say it is not, when it manifestly is not true. By all means avoid imputing motives when a politician tells an untruth, but do shout from the rooftops that it *is* untrue, and back up the assertion with checkable references.

Rachael Padman
Newmarket

Hong Kong protests

The brutality dealt to the people of Hong Kong by police as they courageously and tenaciously demonstrate for their freedom has exposed the terror, cruelty and male violence (as well as all-pervasive surveillance and politically motivated arrests) that underpins the Xi dictatorship in China.

Genevieve Forde
Aotearoa, New Zealand