Statutory instruments are not quite the archaic devices they are being portrayed as (Report, 12 September). They are regularly used to make adjustments to the law. Around 3,500 of them are created in a normal year. Parliament can debate and reject them, although it is admittedly a rather cumbersome process. But whatever legislation is created, whether by act of parliament or SI, can later be amended or repealed by parliament. This in contrast to the vast amount of EU legislation currently under scrutiny, which entered our laws from the EU without parliament being involved, and which not cannot be amended or repealed while we remain members. It is ironic that remainers should use parliamentary sovereignty as an argument for opposing the EU withdrawal bill.
J Cameron Smith
Dunoon, Argyll and Bute
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