MPs have been accused of ‘collaborating’ with Brussels. But why on earth shouldn’t they?

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

MPs should be collaborators with Brussels, for that is exactly what the democratic will of the people was, as expressed in the 2017 general election, a more recent and much better informed democratic exercise than the 2016 referendum.

In 2017, the party associated with hard Brexit and non-negotiable “red lines” lost its majority. Most people voted for parties that were promising to “collaborate” with Europe to get a soft Brexit deal, or even to remain. The parliament that was then elected still exists and, in making a no-deal Brexit illegal and working with Europe, it is doing no more or less than enacting the will of the people.

Adrian Cosker
Hitchin

Universal credit must be banished

Universal credit should be a litmus test for the moral compass of any democratic government. Many families are grappling with myriad financial and social afflictions that have pushed them into food banks, homelessness and mental ailments. This is an essential issue. The statistics remain a sombre reminder of the necessity to banish this system altogether and enact another compassionate approach that caters for the needs of vulnerable people.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob​
London NW2

Corbyn has a chance to be a statesman

From Lizzy Buchan’s article in today’s Independent, it seems that John McDonald rejects proposals for anyone other than Jeremy Corbyn to be leader of an interim government to block a no-deal Brexit.

Surely Labour can see that a prime minister acceptable to most opposition parties will not only give them the numbers to get over the line but will also put Jeremy Corbyn into a position of high office, possibly the Home Office or Foreign Office, with other members of his shadow cabinet in prominent positions. This will give them a great opportunity not only to present themselves as statespeople who can handle the job of government, but if they can act with restraint and dignity this will contrast favourably with the present leaders. What a great position from which to fight the inevitable election.

RJ Alliott​
Cambridge

It’s all about their image

Could Geoffrey Clifton-Brown have been sent home from conference yesterday as a damage limitation exercise by the prime minister’s PR machine? They have certainly managed to put a lid on detailed reporting of the incident.

From what I can glean, it appears Clifton-Brown lost his rag with a security guard when his partner was not allowed entry to the international lounge since she had no authorisation. It is alleged that Clifton-Brown might have been heard saying to the security guard, “Do you know who I am?”

If this happens to be true, there is more than a whiff of elitism and entitlement in the phrase. Just as Johnson’s PR team snatched away his takeaway coffee cup while he was on camera so as not to damage the PM’s green credentials, was Geoffrey Clifton-Brown sent home so as not to destroy the PM’s new incarnation as a man of the people? Because of course we’re now to believe that the elite, Eton-educated narcissist has morphed into the people’s hero who wants to “Get Brexit Done” on behalf of all those good citizens who feel betrayed.

Or perhaps it was simply that, by remonstrating with a security guard, the Cotswolds MP was ruining the Conservatives’ image as the party of law and order.

Just how shallow has our politics become?

Jane Mogford
Gloucestershire

No good reason why Liz Truss should not resign

The fact that international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has admitted the UK had breached for a third time a court order banning the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia and not resigned highlights how discredited this Tory government has become.

An estimated 18,292 civilians have been killed or injured as a result of indiscriminate bombing by the Saudi-led coalition embroiled in the civil war in Yemen, according to research conducted by the Yemen Data Project.

Saudi land forces are also based in the country, intervening in support of the Yemeni government which is fighting primarily against Houthi rebels, backed by Iran. Since the conflict began in March 2015, the UK has licensed at least £5.3bn worth of arms to Riyadh.

Ms Truss also told MPs that government had breached additional undertakings given to parliament that weapons would not be sold to Saudi Arabia’s coalition partners, by agreeing to sell fuel gauges for F-16 jets to Jordan’s air force.

While the minister’s apology is of course welcome, the government is either completely incompetent or it is deliberately breaking the law with impunity. Whatever the situation, if there is any shred of morality left in this government Ms Truss must do the right thing and resign.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

The Mail on Sunday’s behaviour shows why we need a Leveson II

The news that Prince Harry is taking on the Mail On Sunday for its gutter journalism will lead to rejoicing across the land.

On reading his admirable public statement, what came to mind immediately was the comparably disgraceful treatment that Jeremy Corbyn has received at the hands of these apologies for newspapers for the past four years. Thus, the prince appositely refers to “a long and disturbing pattern of behaviour by British tabloid media ... There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda ... The only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives. Put simply, [this behaviour] is bullying ... We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.”

Well, there could, of course, be accountability for it, if the self-interested Tory government (which virtually all of these newspapers uncritically support) hadn’t conveniently cancelled Leveson II, and with it any possibility of any brake being placed on such despicable propaganda assaults.

The Labour 2017 election manifesto said: “We will implement the recommendations of part one of the Leveson Inquiry and commence part two”. Labour will do a great service to the nation if they resuscitate the inquiry, and include a commitment to that affect in its next manifesto.

Dr Richard House
Stroud