Respect your Brexit opponents and stop the derision, insults and slurs – Yorkshire Post letters

From: Sheila Ingram, Ella Street, Hull.
Boris Johnson undertook his first PMQs this week.Boris Johnson undertook his first PMQs this week.
Boris Johnson undertook his first PMQs this week.

HOW wonderful to see Sir Bernard Ingham’s column (The Yorkshire Post, September 4) being flanked by an altogether more reasoned column by Tony Rossiter.

Sir Bernard’s rant on behalf of the Prime Minister’s bullish charge for the line to score a Brexit ‘no deal’try was couched in some alarming and ill-judged language.

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Brexit protests continue to take place outside Parliament.Brexit protests continue to take place outside Parliament.
Brexit protests continue to take place outside Parliament.

Tony Rossiter’s no less impassioned column on the other hand was an evidence-based exposition by which several of today’s Cabinet Ministers stand condemned of hypocrisy by their own mouths.

Sir Bernard’s blanket descriptions of MPs should not go unchallenged. Having listened to several important Parliamentary debates, mostly on Brexit, over the last year, I have been struck by the sincerity of MPs as a whole, speaking up not just for their vulnerable constituents but also for local businesses and for the country as a whole.

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The scene outside Parliament this week as Brexit tensions increased.The scene outside Parliament this week as Brexit tensions increased.
The scene outside Parliament this week as Brexit tensions increased.

Brexit has divided the country as well as Parliament; treating those who take an opposite view of Brexit and the Brexit deal with derision, insults and slurs is to be resisted by all those who care about the quality of our national debate. This is because such debate influences the direction of our political life, and the value placed on our democratic rights.

From: Tony Homewood, Westfield Drive, Ossett.

REGARDLESS of anyone’s views on Brexit, what has become blatantly apparent is the need for a modern, written, intelligible constitution. As a law undergraduate many years back, we were constantly told how “wonderfully flexible” our constitution was.

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As I argued at the time, all that meant was that politicians could mess about with it for their own ends. I hate to say “I told you so” but of course that is exactly what we saw on Tuesday in the House of Commons. I’ve news for Boris Johnson: you’re no Winston Churchill and here’s why – Tom Richmond

A constitution is like the firmware in your phone, your tablet or your laptop. It is what determines how things work. Who has the power to do what and when. A computer with no firmware wouldn’t work. As it stands, comparatively few people have any real understanding of how our constitution works. Yet it should be something that is easily intelligible to the average person. If it isn’t, then what is the point of it?

The case for a proper, modern, “inflexible” written constitution, is now unassailable. But there will still be some who ludicrously argue against it – and most will be politicians.