In light of the Brexit negotiations, MPs should reconsider the summer recess

Given the incredibly short timescales to create legislation to avoid a cliff-edge Brexit, why is the parliamentary summer recess the same duration as usual?

I appreciate that MPs may not be spending all this time on holiday, but special circumstances call for extraordinary measures.

Dave Barnes
Chesterfield

At a time when our beleaguered PM is calling on all parties to come and join her at the Brexit Tea Party, at a time when there is an enormous amount of legislative work for Parliament to address, at a time when the country's very future is teetering on the edge of its white cliffs, it is a comfort to know that the mother of all parliaments is to close for its summer recess as normal. Plus ça change, as they say in the rest of Europe.

Name and address supplied

Listening to Emily Thornberry at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday shows you don't need a coalition for chaos; the Tory Cabinet seems eminently capable of providing chaotic government all on their own.

G Forward
Stirling

Nicola Sturgeon and the rest of the SNP establishment are usually prompt to blame pretty much every piece of poor Scottish economic news on Brexit.

But will the welcome news that Scottish unemployment figures have dropped to a post-recession low also be “blamed” on Brexit? I doubt it – and nor should they be.

The reality of course is that, to date, Brexit has yet had little impact on any aspect of the UK economy – positive or negative. The exceptions are that some export businesses have been assisted by the weak pound and some importers of raw materials have been damaged by currency fluctuations.

The SNP government's delight in citing Brexit as responsible for every Scottish economic woe these days is beyond ridiculous. The causes are more nuanced and multi-layered.

Sturgeon's team of spin-doctors need to up their game – right now, it's way too clear Sturgeon can't wait for Brexit to fail so she can demand indyref2.

Martin Redfern
Edinburgh

Brexit will never happen in our lifetime. I have a fervent belief in the rule of law, the power of citizens and the quintessence of democracy. These values are the bedrock of our society.

However, no government will be astute enough to disentangle the UK from the European Union for a myriad of reasons: our hospitals, clinics, universities, schools, shops, malls, libraries, trains and buses will be savagely hit by the lack of workforce from the EU.

Brexit reminds me of the Oslo accords signed in 1993. It promised the creation of a Palestinian state through direct negotiations. Twenty-four years on, the dream of Palestinian statehood remains more elusive than ever before.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London

How many thousands of litres of fossil fuel are required for a large group of people to cycle around France?

The Tour de France consumes a very large amount of diesel and petrol by all its support vehicles, motorcycles, ambulances and others. I look forward to a Tour devoid of all the motor vehicles – that's what cycling is all about, isn't it?

Robin Le Mare
Cumbria