YESTERDAY, Michel Barnier said “Brexit means Brexit”. However, he added another small word, pregnant with meaning and significance: “Everywhere”.

At a stroke, he took Theresa May’s much-spouted dictum, which had had additions such as “red, white and blue”, and turned it back on itself to show the true, logical, interpretation of the intention behind her utterances. It applies everywhere. Out of the single market and out of the customs union; then there can be no cherry-picking.

His position was clearly stated after Article 50 was activated and the logical outcome was obvious, but No 10 and the Brexiteers have chosen to close their ears to the message ever since. Everywhere means Everywhere. As a Scot would say: “Ye ken noo!”

John Edgar
Stewarton

PHILLIP Hammond’s (net worth £8.6 million) gaffe that “there are no unemployed people” shows just how out of touch the Tories are. As he prepares for another Budget, Hammond is set to continue with the economically illiterate and socially disastrous “austerity”.

Back in 2010 George Osborne promised his “austerity experiment” would eliminate the deficit completely by 2015. This was a lie. Instead of admitting failure and changing course, the Tories rebranded the failure a “success” by claiming it had reduced the deficit by a third.

Earlier this year the Resolution Foundation predicted income growth in 2017 to be “hovering around, or even below, zero for the second half of the year.”

According to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, over the next four years one third of UK children will live in relative poverty. This will mean that by 2022, 5.2 million children will be living in relative poverty. All this come on top of a collapse in wages since 2008 of 10.8 per cent. Only Greece has seen a comparable decline.

Before any of the consequences of Brexit can be factored in, Britain’s economy is profoundly weak. Before the last budget the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed the national debt looks set to hit almost £2 trillion, more than double the £800 billion when Labour left office in 2010. They also confirmed that additional borrowing directly related to Brexit would be £58.7 billion over the next six years (£188m a week).

It’s not all been bad. The super-rich have seen their collective wealth double since 2010. Earlier this year it was revealed that at least 28 of the top 100 individuals or families in the Sunday Times rich list have donated to the Conservative Party or individual Tory politicians, according to the Electoral Commission’s records. The combined wealth of all the Conservative donors on the list is £102bn.

The classic Thatcherite “trickle down” theory is still treated as self-evident by a ruling elite desperate to find justifications for a crumbling social order.

Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee

SO Dominic Grieve, former Attorney General, thinks some of his Tory colleagues have become “unhinged”? There is an old saying that those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad.

Peter Craigie
Edinburgh

THE EU are now asking for £38 billion as our exit fee, without any agreements, trade or whatever, in our favour. Just two years ago the UK Government printed £375bn as quantitative easing, a sum that quietly disappeared without any effect. Why not do that again – offer the EU, say £250bn, in exchange for which we leave on our terms entirely? That way we own the EU.

Malcolm Parkin
Kinnesswood

AN interesting article by Rachel Sylvester in The Times last week exposed the idiocy of the Brexit vote. Many of the counties in England who voted Leave are seeking special relationships with the European Union so they can continue their unique trading position as though nothing had happened. These communities are living in cloud cuckoo land if they believe Messrs Johnson, Gove and their band of far-right followers that the UK can still “have its cake and eat it”.

As we head for a hard Brexit, which many in the Tory Party favour, pundits are forecasting a 20-year recovery for the UK economy – if ever. Isn’t it time that MPs in Westminster forgot about personal careers and did the right thing for the UK by demolishing the false promises made by the arch Brexiteers?

It is true that the EU is in need of reform. The Commission requires more scrutiny from a reformed Parliament. Surely these issues and others are better tackled from inside? Several EU member countries are already thinking along these lines. It may take some time to achieve a satisfactory outcome but it would be worth the effort.

Mike Underwood
Linlithgow

I NOTICE many contributors have referred to those opposing independence as British nationalists rather than Unionists. This point makes it difficult for them to say they are opposed to nationalism per se.

Also, previous contributors to The National have pointed out the Unionist in Conservative and Unionist refers to a Union of parties in the early 20th century – not the Union of the Crowns! It should also be similarly emphasised that independence means self-government not separation!

Dr Kris Hansen
Edinburgh