There should be no surprise at the action of Boris Johnson in using any and every tactic to achieve his version of Brexit (Outrage as Johnson suspends parliament, 29 August). In common with pro-Brexit colleagues appointed to his cabinet, he has been taken over by a fanaticism that does not recognise logic, conscience or democratic values. Alas, it is contagious and has drawn in a number of Conservative MPs who had previously displayed quite different views. One encounters it at public meetings. Recently, speaking at a local meeting on a totally different subject, I was assailed by two men whose sole purpose was to harangue those present on the need for Brexit at any cost. It was discourteous to me as speaker and, even more so, to the chairman who had invited me.
Those now setting aside all the democratic channels parrot the mantra that the “vote of the people” at the referendum has to be implemented and are unwilling even to countenance the manifest case that the whole process was deeply flawed and the final vote unsustainable. These individuals are a minority of those who voted leave but make up the group that propels Johnson on the disastrous course towards a no-deal Brexit. He aims to prevent parliament voting on Brexit because he knows he cannot win and he dare not face a second referendum because he knows he will lose it. In this bizarre situation, and on such a crucial issue, it is vital that every MP who opposes Brexit unites to defeat the cynical sidelining of parliamentary democracy.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
• My mother, an Austrian refugee, was a great admirer of British government. She used to tell her children that Hitler could never have risen to power in the UK because of the existence and powers of the monarch. The events of Wednesday, when the prime minister, foisted on the country by fewer than 100,000 members of the Conservative party, suspended parliament, proved this argument false. Johnson is no Hitler but he has silenced democratic debate in parliament, removing all checks and balances on the executive while it carries out policies which will damage this country for decades to come. The Queen was either unable or unwilling to prevent him. What a precedent this has set for more extreme events in the future. Our head of state has, it seems, no powers; she is merely a tourist attraction. It is time to seriously consider a republic and a written constitution.
Dr Mike Addison
Wilmslow, Cheshire
• The Guardian (Editorial, 29 August) says Johnson’s pronunciamento “is not a total subversion of the constitutional order on a par with a military putsch”. Small comfort! A coup – the correct term for what he is attempting – can proceed by other means. The PM is subverting the routine practices of our (unwritten) constitution by trashing the conventions that restrain democratic politicians. This is being enabled by the great majority of Conservative MPs(as Republican Senators are enabling Trump). Ministers who once rejected no-deal have now joined the cabinet. Matt Hancock, Michael Gove and Amber Rudd, who firmly denounced the idea of prorogation, have not resigned. With the takeover of the historic centre-right party by extremists, the threat to democracy is real and urgent.
TG Ashplant
Oxford
• The Guardian is at best premature and at worst wrong in stating that Johnson’s request to the Queen to prorogue parliament “observes the letter of the law”. The legality of his request – to facilitate major constitutional change for which there is no majority in the legislature – is the subject of judicial review. The court may well confirm that it was unlawful for the PM to request prorogation with the intention of frustrating the will of parliament and/or the effect of restricting its scrutiny of the withdrawal process.
Until the outcome of judicial review is known, the Guardian should not postulate that Johnson has observed the law.
Alice Appleton
Leeds
• At long last the leaders of the opposition parties in parliament are working together to stop the disaster of a no-deal Brexit, which threatens the wellbeing and the livelihood of thousands of our fellow citizens. The hardworking remainers are being heard and at last respected. Johnson delivers like an enemy of parliament and a short-sighted Brexiteer putting our constitution and our institutions at risk. Parliament has only a few days next week to save the situation and everything depends upon its willingness to do so.
Shirley Williams
Liberal Democrats, House of Lords
• Has Theresa May been working in league with the ERG and the hard-right Tories from day one? The slick timing of events leading to the Queen’s consent to prorogue parliament, which began with May’s resignation on 7 June, leading to Johnson’s coronation on 24 July and the subsequent recess of parliament one day later, suggests a collusion between May and the ERG to achieve within the recess period the formation of a cabinet dominated by hard Brexiteers and the neutering of parliament’s ability to stop no-deal.
She was obviously an admirer of Johnson, having made him foreign secretary and refusing to sack him despite his many gaffes.
David Outen
Cazoules, Dordogne, France
• Might parliament circumvent the disgraceful prorogation of parliament by using the precedent set by Speaker William Lenthall in 1642, when he and the Commons defied Charles I? Charles was then the government, in that parliament’s power was limited and in transition. When the King tried illegally to arrest five MPs in parliament, asking Lenthall where they were, the latter replied, “I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as this House is pleased to direct me.” He and parliament defied the governmental power. The government is now Johnson and his cronies. Parliament should assemble now, if necessary at the request of the Speaker, to defy this rogue government.
Jane Card
Harwell, Oxfordshire
• I am a mother of four who grew up in Northern Ireland. I live in fear of a no-deal Brexit. Not because of trade or finances but because of the return to violence which a hard border will bring with it. Every day of my childhood was spent hearing of people being killed by bombs and bullets. I lived in fear that I, my siblings or parents would be next. Is this what we want for our children?
Individuals outwith Northern Ireland have very quickly forgotten the terror and killing in the past. Some of us will never forget. I do not profess to be an expert on the Brexit deal but I do know human life is more important than any so-called deal. For those intent on pursuing a no-deal Brexit without a backstop, I fear there will be blood on your hands and the streets of my beautiful home country once more.
Fiona Black
Edinburgh
• I have metastatic thyroid cancer, which is affecting my sacrum, pelvis and hip. Last Monday, I had an appointment with my consultant to discuss my latest scans, which show the cancer has spread to another area of my hip.
The treatment is superb: radioactive iodine, which targets the tumour directly. This treatment has reduced my pain and extended my life for the past six years.
However, when my consultant advised me on Monday that another round of radioactive iodine treatment is now necessary, I asked how that will work after 31 October. He shrugged his shoulders, threw his arms in the air and said: “Who knows, Linda, who knows?” Six years of positive treatment and now “who knows”. It’s devastating.
Linda Wilcox
Ashford, Kent
• The government’s position in the Lords is even more precarious than that suggested by Heather Stewart (Johnson seeks to create new peers to boost his authority, 27 August). Crossbench peers and bishops, though not subject to the whipping system of the political parties, are often critical of government policy and many are likely to join Labour and Liberal colleagues, not to mention some Tories, in opposition to Johnson over Brexit.
Jeremy Beecham
Labour, House of Lords
• I quote from your article on the silver hoard and the post-Norman period of British history (Report, 29 August): “Imagine a period of instability with someone in charge of the country that not everybody actively supports and uncertainty in terms of the relationship with the continent… the sort of circumstances in which anyone might bury their money.” Now we all know what to do.
Jackie Epps
Alton, Hampshire
• I understand that Mussolini, whatever his faults, at least made the trains run on time. May we now expect improvements in our railway timetables?
Rev John James
Highbridge, Somerset
• In light of recent events, I have the perfect strategy for regaining the Ashes. We simply have to win the fourth Test, then prorogue the fifth. Sorted. Thanks, Boris Johnson.
Stephen Marshall
Cambridge
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