IF the polls are correct, down south the massive haemorrhaging of Tory voters to the Brexit Party prior to the EU Parliamentary elections ironically is causing mayhem (pun intended) in the Tory party. Labour are also caught in the cross-fire.

The Unionist duopoly are thus in deep trouble internally and in their country south of the Tweed. How that pans out north of the Tweed we wait and see, as Scots voted to remain and the Tory and Labour parties here are receding fast.

Given the joke that is now Westminster, one wonders how far the pro-indyref2 support has risen. The minor Unionist party the LibDems in Scotland must wonder where to stand now!

Is there any support now for “Better Together” since the apparent advance of Farage, reconfigured but still inwardly the same Anglo-Xenophobe? Which self-respecting nation would want to remain in the Union given the lurch to the rabid right down south? The Better Together group up here need to rethink their attachment to that now tattered and battered Union!

Even if Theresa May got a deal through in time to withdraw from the EU elections, or at least to nullify the result, the same seismic shift in the duopoly party structures and political orientation post-Brexit would remain, with the alt-right tendency strengthened, an orientation being encouraged by the alt-right in the US from the president downwards.

Not a pleasant thought at all. What is disturbing is the shift in the UK media and its overweighted projection of the Farage-stance. The Brexit debacle has laid bare the nasty sub-currents across the duopoly as they are not solely on the Tory right.

The No vote in England and Wales and the accompanying xenophobic vitriol has indeed shocked, but not surprised. The previous EU elections, resulting in Ukip being the largest grouping of MEPs from England, was an indication of a fundamental change across the voters from the duopoly who switched!

The proportional system indicated a stratum of voter shift which the Westminster first-past-the-post system masked. If post-Brexit that shift hits the critical mass then the Brexit hordes in the alt-right will flood into Westminster! Scary thought! The rump Tory party will easily sit align with them. The infamous “nasty party”, so named by Theresa May herself, will become even nastier.

As we know in Scotland, there is an escape for us north of the Tweed by leaving the incorporating Union of 1707.

John Edgar
Kilmaurs

NOW that the looming European elections are giving a ready-made platform and unlimited publicity and exposure to Farage/Johnson/Moggy (and sister), do people really understand and listen to their message of doing what’s best for the UK?

Farage leads on the “walking away from our obligations” decision that could easily be a very double-edged sword to many of his followers. Indeed it’s apparent that not a lot of thinking is associated to very many of them. Unfortunate but true.

Obligations are obligations, as are laws and rules. Once we start deciding by mob rule the ones we walk away from and the ones we enforce, we then hit very serious problems. Are wealthy industrialists looking at this scenario and perhaps thinking – can we walk away from some of the labour and employment laws that we don’t like? Can they walk away from costly health and safety issues, do they decide to rip up compensation and redundancy agreements, and perhaps current wage structures?

As for legislation regarding the environment – that has got to be the main area where they will squirm out of their current constraints. Everything from the nuclear safety to deep-sea exploration will become vulnerable and will be exploited for maximum return of profits.

Personally I don’t see any benefit from the UK exiting the EU and these standards, regulations, laws and practices being cherry-picked off by the higher elite in their quest for financial gain.

Some people should be very aware of the consequences of walking away – the precedent is a very bad one and potentially scary. Halloween is such a fitting date for all this occur.

You couldn’t write this script...

Dougie Gray
Dunbar

OK, so a big wad of cash is thrown at an election campaign that is basically meaningless. To prove what? The Tories and Westminster are not going to take any notice of the result in Scotland and will do as they always do, ignore it.

Save that big wad of cash for the campaign that really matters, indyref2!

Cailean M Moore
via Facebook

I HAVE been patiently waiting for the First Minister to announce when indyref2 will take place, and my patience is beginning to run out. We are no doubt heading for another Brexit extension after October 31, or the EU could just kick the UK out without a deal.

We have enough clarity right now for the FM to announce that she is going to ask for permission to hold a Scottish independence referendum. If Theresa May says yes, we can start campaigning tomorrow. If, as predicted, we are told “now is not the time”, the pro-independence parties can campaign in the EU elections and in future Westminster and Holyrood elections that Scotland’s democratic right to decide its own future is being denied.

Alan Laing
Paisley

THE next Scottish referendum should not be for independence.

It should be to repeal the Treaty of Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England.

The Scottish Parliament, being one of the two signatures, can repeal the treaty. If it was advantageous to England, the Westminster – ie English – Parliament would repeal it in an instant.

William Purves
Galashiels