ONCE again, our Prime Minister will be chosen by the Conservative party, without the approval of the wider electorate. The candidates will be whittled down to two contenders by just 314 Tory MPs. Those selected will then be voted on by around 110,000 party members, 70% of whom are men, half are over 55 years old and a mere 17% are under 35.

Although appointed Prime Ministers are far from unusual – there having been 12 others since 1919 – none of them were made by a party who did not have an overall majority in Parliament. This looks particularly bad coming from the party that has been so determined to deliver Brexit on the grounds that anything else would damage faith in democracy. In Westminster it seems that principles take second place to keeping power.

Pete Rowberry
Duns

THE chaos we’ve witnessed in Westminster over the last three years wasn’t about Brexit after all. Self-serving MPs have been hiding behind a smokescreen of “we must honour the result of the referendum” to further their own ambitions to become Prime Minister, aided and abetted by their band of sycophants hoping for Cabinet posts.

Boris Johnson gave the game away when he said “f*** business, f*** Ireland” and I guess the same sentiments were in his mind for Scotland.

The mealy-mouthed praise now being heaped on Theresa May is coming from the same people who leaked details of Cabinet discussions, wrote derogaTORY articles in news media and criticised her in radio and TV interviews.

The only thing we haven’t seen so far is fisticuffs, but watch out for the leadership election already described as dirty by some newspapers.

Scotland, get out now.

Mike Underwood
Linlithgow

IS it not interesting that in her false weepy farewell speech, Theresa May’s trainers advised her to act choked up and speak of serving the “country I love”?

What country was she weeping for? Was it Wales or Scotland, or even Northern Ireland or England? I suspect it probably was the latter, as she knows and thinks of no other. Mind you, there is that little appendage to this benighted landmass called “Londonia” that I suspect she really was referring to.

Thanks to all the gods that she has gone, although I suspect worse will follow from down there!

Heaven help us all.

Jim Brady
Strathbungo

I HAVE no pity for Theresa May, but Saturday’s front page was grotesque and completely unnecessary. Her conduct towards the poor, towards immigrants and all of the people who suffered under her government was shocking, but we shouldn’t debase ourselves in this way.

Margaret Brogan
West Kilbride

THE article on the worst Prime Ministers in UK history was interesting but I’m surprised Gordon Brown wasn’t on the list (Is Theresa May the worst PM in history?, May 24).

Let’s not forget that the whole public sector in Scotland is still suffering – and will continue to do so for years – under his private finance initiative (PFI) scam. A scam that sees billions of pounds of public money wasted on high-interest contracts that benefit the banks and various private companies while hitting hard the budgets of councils, health boards and every other public body.

His PFI project has left the public sector scrabbling for savings while having to maintain the high interest rates of borrowing encouraged by Brown’s failure to invest in the public sector.

Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley

HAMISH MacPherson lists six of the worst Prime Ministers. It is revealing that they are all Tory! One must wonder why? Chance or choice?

John Edgar
Kilmaurs

WITH Theresa May gone, along with strong and stable leadership, and with Boris Johnson in the loop, there looms the dangerous prospect of a panto act emerging with Donald Trump!

How anyone can now vote for the old Unionist parties in view of the endless debacle of Brexit and the EU election result is beyond belief.

I am further amazed that some people can’t understand that the break-up of the UK is happening following the growing political and economic disillusionment with a distant and arrogant London establishment over many decades.

The antics and utter shambles of this fractious and divided Tory government in Westminster has made the “Mother of all Parliaments” the laughing stock of Europe and of the world.

The Palace of Westminster is collapsing in may ways, none more so than under the weight of time

and tradition, privilege and patronage including Britain’s post-imperial struggle to remain a world power.

In other words it is no longer fit for purpose, particularly for the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who would be infinitely better off controlling their own affairs.

Compared to the modern social democratic Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, which in its short life has enacted a range of pioneering reforms, Westminster has stagnated – particularly in the last three years of indecision.

With Brexit Britain on the horizon the time has come to finally break free from the constraining straight jacket that is Westminster. To quote Victor Hugo: “Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come”.

Grant Frazer
Newtonmore