Letters: Government must take heed of Northern Ireland police warning

Any regular observer of contemporary issues in this country will wholeheartedly agree with the chief constable that the PSNI

“keeps a lid on” actual terrorist activity or criminal activities linked to terrorist groups on a worryingly regular basis.

To introduce any kind of hard border to the island of Ireland would be to initiate a calamitous security nightmare and solely benefit subversive groups at the expense of the overwhelming majority of people on the island of Ireland.

Mr Hamilton states that he has made a number of urgent pleas for increased resources from the UK Government, including 400 extra officers and equipment, an entirely reasonable request in the light of the ongoing obfuscation regarding the precise character of Brexit.

Mrs May and her colleagues have repeatedly fudged the Irish border issue until now and seem content to continue to metaphorically stick their collective heads in the fast disappearing sands of the Brexit process, impervious to the clear and present danger it undoubtedly presents.

The Prime Minister must imminently embrace a pragmatic approach that will shield us all from the worst excesses of the Brexit process and deliver continued peace and security for Northern Ireland.

She must ensure that the UK remains in the single market and customs union. Only by grasping this opportunity for Realpolitik can Mrs May reassure the people of Northern Ireland that they are not a peripheral political inconvenience but that their hard fought for and cherished peace is a prime concern of the British Government.

Otherwise, it may not solely be those of a Republican persuasion who will be seeking a referendum on a united Ireland in the not too distant future.

Owen Kelly,

8 Dunvegan Drive,

Stirling.

IT seems that around 80 Tory MPs have declared that will vote against any implementation of the official Chequers plan for Brexit if that can be agreed with the EU (“May dismisses Johnson and seeks support on Brexit deal”, The Herald, September 11).

As I understand it the Chequers plan takes us out of the EU but we will continue to conform to all the EU’s standards and rules and as such will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

We may have access to the single market and be able to close our borders to the EU migrants but in all else we will effectively remain within the EU. Maybe this is what the populations of England and Wales voted for but I suspect it is not. Scotland, of course voted decisively to remain.

In the meantime we press ahead with negotiations based on the Chequers plan in the knowledge that there are likely to be home-grown troubles for any final agreement.

The Labour Party is something of a mixture in what it says. I defy anyone to make sense of what their views are likely to be but it seems that, if the Tory Government can reach an agreement with the EU on its present proposals, it will require to have 70 or 80 Labour MPs to go through the Government lobby with them to get the deal approved. That might just be a bridge too far.

It does seem more and more likely that in March next year we will crash out of the EU without a deal and find ourselves in the cold world outside without any trading agreements with anybody.

The Prime Minister has recently visited many of the old Commonwealth countries touting for trade agreements but as I understand it they do not appear to be biting our hand off to set them up. If we stick with the EU standards that will preclude the much-prized deal with the United States where their food standards will not be acceptable and our health service may not be open for their exploitation.

Of course it may be that we will have another referendum to see whether we should take the plunge on whatever can be agreed or draw back and remain within the EU but that will be in the teeth of rabid opposition from the most vociferous newspapers and many MPs.

That may be just as difficult to

get through as any other course of action.

The saying goes that we live in interesting times. In the meantime we, in Scotland, await the outcome. Regardless of what that might be there will probably be another decision to be made. I think there are increasing numbers here that are fed up with these shenanigans in the House of Commons and are coming round to the idea that we might do better in another way.

DS Blackwood,

1 Douglas Drive East,

Helensburgh.

ANENT the demand by the Scottish Liberal Democrats that Nicola Sturgeon comes off the fence and declares, indeed leads, a call for a second EU referendum, I would suggest she ignores this for three main reasons.

First, in 2016 Scotland voted 62 per cent to remain in the EU. Even if in a rerun Scotland voted 100 per cent Remain, it would have little effect unless England and Wales changed their views.

It is England which has to be persuaded, not Scotland.

This leads to the second point. A glance through the online issues of English newspapers shows an almost visceral hatred of Nicola Sturgeon on the part of many respondents. It may be very unwise, and indeed counterproductive, for Ms Sturgeon to be involved in any approach to English voters.

Finally there are the Scottish Liberal Democrats. They are demanding that Ms Sturgeon declares for a second EU referendum, while at the same time demanding that if she does not abandon thoughts of a second independence referendum, they will refuse to support the proposed budget in Holyrood. Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie has been highlighting education and mental health provision for some time. Is he really going to scupper a budget which attempts to deal with the very issues he champions?

If he does then he will be seen as very much all noise and little substance.

Donald MacRae,

38 Marchfield Avenue,

Paisley.