IT’S not often I agree wholeheartedly with Michael Fry but this week he offers a 100 per cent accurate assessment of the difficulties facing Theresa May with regard to Brexit, and in particular in relation to the extremely dangerous game she is playing in Ireland (What must the EU make of a Prime Minister terrified of making decisions?, The National, February 20). Difficulties, it should be stressed, which are entirely of her own making.

On all Michael’s substantive points, Iain Macwhirter offered the same analysis in his column in the Sunday Herald. Even the new Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald, when she appeared on the Alex Salmond show on February 15, agreed on all the relevant points, namely that the Good Friday Agreement and the peace settlement in Northern Ireland are anchored in EU law; that Brexit and the peace settlement are mutually incompatible; that Brexit would necessitate border posts along the border with the Irish Republic; that this would be an absolute disaster; that Theresa May has tried – and continues to try – to be all things to all people (except of course a friend to Scotland), and that she is absolutely paralysed on any sort of deal with the EU.

That such a broad range of opinion from Michael Fry to Iain Macwhirter to Mary Lou McDonald should all agree on this, and for all the same reasons, should scream loud and clear to all and sundry but especially the Prime Minister that her position vis-a-vis Northern Ireland, indeed the entire Brexit project, is a busted flush and the sooner it is abandoned the better. And the sooner we in Scotland abandon this busted flush of a dis-United Kingdom the better.

Incidentally, while most commentators agree that while Theresa May is playing a dangerous game in Ireland, they also seem to agree that nobody wants a return to The Troubles. Forgive my cynicism, but in my opinion it would suit the extreme Brexiteers as well as the extreme elements of the DUP just quite nicely for The Troubles to kick off again. The feature a couple of weeks ago in the Sunday Herald, on British collusion with loyalist terrorism shows quite clearly that there are absolutely no depths of depravity to which the British state will not sink in order to protect what are perceived as “British interests”.

Alastair Naughton
Peterculter, Aberdeen

“ONLY SNP MPs show up to Scottish Affairs Committee meeting in Kirkcaldy” (The National, February 20).

At worst this could to be a coordinated attempt by the opposition parties to make the SNP and its MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee look foolish, at best it shows such a total lack of interest by the opposition parties, in that they didn’t even bother to ensure that at least one MP from each party came to listen to the public in Kirkcaldy.

Did these non-attenders inform the committee far enough in advance to allow the meeting to be rescheduled, the minimum courtesy that people in Scotland should expect?

This meeting was not just about immigration procedures – the committee remit is to investigate how immigration policy should address the needs of current migrants, the agricultural sector and rural communities in Scotland.

However, this boycott is particularly insulting to Scotland’s valued immigrant population, the opposition has shown that it has no interest in their opinions.

This kind of behaviour makes it abundantly clear that the Unionist parties do not regard Scotland as an equal partner in their precious union.

What will be the status of Scotland and its immigrants in the union after Brexit, an equal partner? A vassal state or a colony?

John Jamieson
South Queensferry

FURTHER to Christian Allard’s letter (Letters, February 20), Ruth Davidson made four point in her statement on Peston on Sunday and she was unchallenged on any of them. She said:

  • People said we would not have a deal about EU Nationals – we have
  • People said we would not finalise a divorce bill – we have
  • People said we would not have an end point on the Northern Irish Border – we have
  • People said we would not sort out a transition – we have

Christian Allard tells us there is no deal for EU citizens. On Sunday morning Guy Verhofstadt was on Marr talking about the transition and stated clearly we could not have all the trade benefits without having the present rules for movement of citizens during any transition, and he was quite clear about it.

As far as I know there has been no agreement on the divorce bill, and as for Northern Ireland maybe Ruth could inform us of that agreement.

She was allowed to make a statement previously on the BBC referring to councillors and their actions and stated they had signed up for diversity training, but Nil By Mouth had had no correspondence. She was not challenged then either, and merely gave a statement. Now she comes out of hiding and is allowed again to speak without challenge while her statements are not correct.

Winifred McCartney
Paisley

AS an avid follower of the National Crossword, I have learned many new and useful words over the past few years , but none as accurately descriptive as the solution to nine across on Tuesday.

It perfectly describes anything that Boris (and most other Tory ministers) say.

The word is “fallaciloquence”. I suggest your readers look it up and use it at every possible opportunity!

Ian Hewitt
Edinburgh