I WROTE some time ago that our Brexit negotiating "strategy" was developing into a crazy suicide threat, holding a gun to our own head and demanding the EU give us the deal we want or we will pull the trigger. That was true then and it's true now. The EU is finally being told that the proposal being put before it is our last throw of the dice, the end game is on and it's Chequers or nothing.

It’s the same message Theresa May sends to ourselves and our representatives in Parliament. We are now being held to ransom – “you either back my Chequers agreement or we all fall off the cliff together”. The message is as clear as it is uncompromising. The new and improved Chequers proposal is hugely and deliberately unclear, stuffed with ifs and buts. It is simply the latest in a catalogue of so-called solutions, an attempt to rescue something, anything, from the upcoming last-minute negotiating frenzy, much like speed chess where Mrs May might claim some credit for minor gains secured but paradoxically be sacked by her own party for further concessions made which the reluctant Brexiters were simply forced to agree to.

No one now disputes that UK leaving the EU with no agreement will be a disaster. The no-deal Brexit has been downgraded from the catastrophic to the unthinkable, no one in their right mind could possibly support it. Those who still cling to the prospect of British business thriving in the light and warmth of a new bright, post-Brexit dawn are deluded. Mrs May's early description of Brexit being “an exciting time, full of promise” was sheer fantasy; realistically it will be a nightmare

If successful, Chequers will be dressed up as a necessary compromise but we should not be fooled. If, God forbid, it is forced through we should steel ourselves for Brexit round two. Giving Mrs May his usual unswerving support Michael Gove said “Chequers is OK for now’, and should be accepted, but with a caveat that a future government/new prime minister (Boris?) could revisit it”. He really means dump it as soon as we can, probably in the same way Donald Trump dumps agreements he does not like

Brexit, the whole process has been a shameful embarrassment, an unmitigated disaster from day one. The British people deserve better. What is so bad about us having the final say in a three-question referendum: "Do we accept Chequers (or what the final version will be)?"; ‘do we want to give up membership of the EU completely?"or "do we want to remain in the EU on the same terms as we are currently?

What's so difficult about that?

Ian McLaren,

27 Buchanan Drive, Lenzie.

TRADE talks excluding Europe in favour of the rest of the world have dominated the Brexit negotiations for more than two years now. Dr Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, has been noticeably silent. Immigration and borders are inextricably linked with the Home Secretary lacking constructive input. The Irish border question is intractable. A trade deal with the United States has been tainted by the chlorinated chicken scare. Other food supplies from different countries with less fastidious standards and less regulation will pose a similar threat if trade agreements are signed with them. Sight must not be lost of the extensive damage that will be done to the NHS, agriculture, manufacturing and much else with restricted immigration from the EU while immigration from other parts of the world will continue.

The timely and stark warnings of the economic dangers ahead given by the IMF, the Governor of the Bank of England and the IFS must not be ignored no matter how much they are dismissed by Boris Johnson and his merry band of dangerous imperialists and little Englanders who offer nothing by way of alternatives other than a dream of a great deal of jam tomorrow.

The SNP is constantly criticised for, as some see it, trying to highlight grievances with Westminster. Surely Brexit is an example writ large of just such ill treatment of a supposedly equal partner when a Tory Government which Scotland did not vote for and a Brexit result Scotland certainly did not vote for is imposed on Scotland without any chance of escape. This is surely evidence of incestuous political action by the nastiest part of a nasty party.

Article 50 can and must be withdrawn after the population is given a chance to make their choice now seeing the extensive damage, cost and confusion it will undoubtedly cause. The only collateral damage will be to an already divided and terminally hapless Conservative Party.

Nigel Dewar Gibb,

15 Kirklee Road, Glasgow.

I TAKE issue with Ian W Thomson's letter (September 17) which merely fortifies the fear tactics being deployed in the Brexit debate. He has perhaps been swayed by the negative reporting of the BBC, which was disgraceful for a lack of balance, and whose coverage a certain Donald Trump would delight in calling "fake news".

The International Driving Permit is, according to the Post Office, "required or recommended in over 140 countries – including the USA, Brazil and Hong Kong". It is also recommended in the EU and has been for years. No news there then.

And requiring six months' validity on your passport which could deny you entry to the EU? Mr Thompson says he may "have missed out on being told". It seems he has not travelled abroad for many years, or he hasn't listened to his travel advisor or check-in agent, or read the small print on his holiday paraphernalia.

You always require six months validity on your passport on the date of return from your travel ... unless you reside in the rest of the EU where it is perfectly permissible to travel on expired documents.

Again, no news there then.

Gregor McKenzie,

19 Allendale, East Kilbride.

ONCE again we have a Prime Minister going to Europe hoping to gain favourable terms. Some time ago in our passed history a British premier went to Europe and bought the British people "peace in our time”, but more importantly gave us time to steel ourselves for what was to become a world war . Now our Prime Minister travels to Europe for talks on the British exit from Europe, the transition time after our exit next March is the breathing space the British people will need to steel themselves for what’s to come. Will our Prime Minister leave an aircraft waving apiece of paper and declare “a deal in our time”?

Jeff Cowan,

7Auckland Wynd, Glasgow.