PHILIP Hammond claims, in contradicting Theresa May, that a no deal would put the country back ten years, whereas May claims even with a no deal “our best days are ahead of us”.

It is revealing that May uses inane register such as “our best days”. If this is the level at which she operates, pulling glib, unsubstantiated, meaningless phrases out of the air, then what is ahead of us?

Has she forgotten all the warnings released lately about queues of lorries, stockpiling food and medicine, which implies rationing, delays in transport across the country and the army on the streets to quell unrest and protest?

Does that latter bit of “best days” imply firing on the crowds? Tanks on the streets as in George Square in Glasgow many years ago or the confrontations under Thatcher with the miners?

There seems to be a dysfunctional process in Cabinet. Do they not talk to one another? The key players seem to be ploughing a lone furrow leading to contradictions. Then an interviewer asks the PM if she agrees with her Chancellor and the question is ducked!

One must shakes one’s head when one read that there were plans to provide portaloos for stranded lorry drivers outside Dover in the event of hold-ups. Our best days indeed!

The comic circus at No 10 unfolds!

John Edgar
Kilmaurs

CAROLYN Leckie says that Gordon Brown’s warning about another impending crash should be heeded (Indy alone cannot be the focus of those on the left, September 17). This focus is wrong.

Brown is the political equivalent of Wilie Loman, the washed up has-been in Arthur Miller’s brilliant Death of a Salesman. Loman, like Brown, struggles to deal with reality so invents a fantasy world instead.

Brown needs to feel relevant. To that end he organises set-piece Maoist style “rallies” in front of preselected party hacks. No dissent is tolerated and no quesitons are ever allowed.

Brown is very good at commenting on crisis for which he is responsible. In 2011 the Financial Services Authority concluded Labour’s lax regulation of the City contributed to the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland. This allowed the former bosses of the bank, including Sir Fred Goodwin, to walk away without being disciplined.

Right up until May 2008 Brown was still advocating further “liberalisation” as a way to save the world from further economic turmoil. In 2008 Brown could have chosen to forgive the debt. Instead he, George Bush, Hank Paulson and Alistair Darling decided to bail out the creditors instead.

Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee

RUTH Davidson is not a politician, she is a Tory brand, a fictitious character fabricated by the BBC and helped by the rest of the mainstream media. Ruth Davidson the MSP and Ruth Davidson the fake super Tory, tank rider, colonel in her free time and amateur baker are two very different concepts, two very different brands.

The reality is that Ms Davidson the politician would not last a second should the BBC and the mainstream media have the balls to handle her in the way they handle SNP politicians. And the fact that they are so carefully avoiding challenging her speaks volumes.

It is no wonder that Ms Davidson does not aspire to become PM of England because as Mike Herd says (Letters, September 17) that actually involves answering questions not only from the biased UK press but also from international press that may have a rather different approach to the one used by UK press that insists in keeping Ms Davidson shielded by cotton wool.

And lets face it, if Ms Davidson cannot handle a tough interview in the UK, how is she going to handle PMQs or the tough questions and tough situations that a position as PM will bring? I don’t think she can. Ms Davidson has proved to me time and time again that she is a selfish opportunist who will ditch her convictions (if she has any) without remorse if that means advancing her career or deflecting bad publicity.

Maria Carnero
via thenational.scot

NOT fit for purpose but good enough for Scotland. Ruth Davidson implied that the PM job is too important/difficult a position for her to succeed in but she thinks she would do an OK job as Governor General of Scotland.

Obviously a suitable job for a lesser mortal, and the Scottish peasants wouldn’t notice her substandard effort on their behalf anyway.

Douglas Stanley
Ayr

WHY did I watch Andrew Marr? Possibly curious to find out what the BBC would do with an extra 30 minutes, wondering if there would be a “Scottish” section as on the old Sunday Politics, or another sop to the restless natives up north at least to justify the licence fee.

No, the usual diet of people from the London bubble discussing the (London) newspapers, being wildly enthusiastic about Ruth Davidson, then people discussing Brexit with no mention of Scotland and completely avoiding the fact that the EU are never going to accept any of their ingenious ploys to have their cake and eat it.

I gave up, then realised we were to have 30 minutes of Gordon Brewer, at least with no Andrew Neil or Sarah Smith, but enough is enough so I went out and bought a Sunday National.

Thank goodness for some sanity!

Ann Rayner
Edinburgh

SO Robert Roddick switched off the Andrew Marr show being upset by its content. I have graduated beyond this as it never gets switched on. I have reached the conclusion that BBC political progammes mainly consist of Conservatives talking to Conservatives about the Conservatives ad infinitum!

Kenny Burnett
Dyce, Aberdeen