Two letters published in the September 13 issue place the blame for our present political deadlock on MPs.

I don’t mind blaming the hard-line Eurosceptics, but when it comes to those MPs who risked their political careers in order to save us all from a disastrous exit from the EU without an agreement, I think that they only deserve our heartfelt thanks.

AV Holmes refers to the “clear” majority shown by the 2016 referendum.

That adjective is certainly an improvement on “overwhelming” and “emphatic”, versions used by our Prime Minister recently.

I would call it “slim”, but I agree that it was a majority.

What the referendum didn’t produce, though, was any mandate for leaving without an agreement, because that question wasn’t asked.

That is why the “irony” your correspondent talks about is exactly the opposite of what he states.

Those who favour leaving the EU want to return control from the European Parliament to the Westminster one.

Yet they are prepared to shut that down when it opposes something for which there is no mandate amongst our electorate.

EJ Heath suggests that our electoral system is at fault.

Certainly it is, and its greatest failing is the first past the post rule.

It squeezes out the parties who occupy the centre ground and allows the extremes of the two (currently) main parties to flourish.

Most people in this country are essentially moderate in their views.

We need a system which allows them more of a voice.

The blame for the present situation lies not with parliament, but with successive Governments.

I, of course, wish that they hadn’t started this process in the first place; but having done so, they should not have allowed hard-line Eurosceptics to control events, but should have pursued a compromise which would be acceptable to the two nearly-equal sections of our population.

G Grafton

Manningtree