OVER the next few weeks the 160,000 members of the Conservative Party will probably crown Boris PM whether the other 46 million of us making up the UK electorate want him or not. And I thought we lived in a democracy!

Both Boris and Jeremy Hunt believe the fantasy that EU member states will roll out the ‘welcome wagon’ and be desperate to say “Ja, Si, Oui” to whatever they demand.

Sorry chaps, that isn’t going to happen. The EU has told us very clearly that the choice is May’s deal or no deal.

Then what? Back to Parliament with a “sorry, no new deal”. Parliament will be more deadlocked than ever leading to a confidence motion lost by Boris and resulting in a general election.

The electorate will not re-elect the Tories so out goes Boris, with blood all over the carpet while lowering George Canning’s record for the shortest premiership ever of 119 days set in 1827.

Oh happy dreams!

Quentin Macdonald,

Church Lane, Nether Poppleton, York

Our days of gunboat diplomacy are over

IF Brexit ever happens it will radically change the UK, perhaps for ever. Leaders of the Brexit movement are wealthy and do not want to belong to a Social Democratic group of nations.

As a committed Remainer, I am disappointed that our country would no longer play an important role in leading European nations towards an enlightened future with a good health system for all, a welfare system providing for the vulnerable and needy, and no capital punishment.

Brexiteers (perhaps Wrecksiteers) prefer the American model of unregulated capitalism. Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons (recently shown at City Screen) eloquently points out the cruelties of the system. Is this really the future people want? In the domestic sphere we like to think we have equal justice before the law although prisons are full of people from the poorer tiers of society (it’s easier to catch lawlessness on the streets than in the board room). On the world stage ‘might is right’ and in trade negotiations our small country is no match for markets as large as America or China.

Our days of gunboat diplomacy are over. It’s possible that our NHS will be sacrificed to America and our security to China. Will that make Brexiteers feel proud? It’s time to wake up to the dangers ahead before it’s too late.

Linda Maggs,

Church Lane,

Dunnington, York