There has been much talk recently about Tory MPs voting against their own government in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit even if this leads to a general election (Report, 17 July). However, it should be remembered that the immediate next step after such an event is not a general election, but the start of a 14-day period in which to form a new government in which the Commons has confidence. While any outcome might be highly uncertain, and could only be seen as a very high-risk strategy by Tory rebels, will more Conservative MPs be prepared to vote against their own government knowing that they have a 14- day period to find an alternative to a general election?
Paul Williams
Bathgate, West Lothian
• I fear that I’m beginning to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Having been held hostage by Theresa May’s Conservative government for three years I’ve started to feel sorry for her! I know that she has been the architect of her own disasters and that she has been an abysmally poor tactician both with her own cabinet and with her EU interlocutors, but I can sense the anguish behind her Chatham House speech (May swipes at ‘rancour and hatred’ of Brexit absolutists, 18 July). At last she has felt able to show her real feelings about those “absolutists” who have made her life such a misery. Unfortunately, it is all rather too late – unless she is now going to continue to speak out about them in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. We can but hope.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
• Congratulations on your exposé (Johnson accused over £1bn vanity projects, 17 July), but why such a restrained presentation and why bury the damning detail on page 9? I think you should have used a true tabloid presentation on the front page under a headline such as “Is this the man you want for PM?” and a subheading of “Johnson’s vanity projects COST TO PUBLIC: Boris Bikes £225m; Wrong buses £321m, Garden bridge £53m, Gala for bridge £417k, Water cannons £300k, Olympic Park tower £13m, London Stadium conversion £323m”.
Phillip Khan-Panni
Naas, Co Kildare
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