Readers' letters: Brexit is proving a massive mistake

Judging by the disastrous Growth Plan announced in the “mini-budget” the Tories are no longer the party of the economy, which in turn affects their ability to maintain the Union.

Economists question why tax cuts for the well off drive economic growth when economic theory suggests lower paid workers are proportionately more likely to spend and pump prime the economy.

The Government would do well to learn from history rather than take a punt at an untried ideological monetarist theory.

Growth rose much faster in the UK while in the EU, out-performing our neighbours France and Germany, but since exit we have fallen behind.

The evidence is clear, prior to joining the UK lagged France and Germany but between 1973, when the UK joined, and 2016 when the UK chose to leave, GDP per capita more than doubled, something France and Germany failed to achieve during that period, as did the US, our biggest single trading partner.

Since leaving growth has been less than half that of the EU. This is not surprising as UK firms struggle to hire labour and untangle red tape.

Iit also makes economic and environmental sense to do more business with our near neighbours than do deals with countries like Australia to reduce our carbon foot-print and transport costs.

Rather than taking back control we have lost control of our economy since leaving. It’s ironic that the only mainstream parties that would take us back into the EU are the SNP and their Green colleagues who tend not to prioritise growth.

Other parties should promote policies that would make the EU work rather than divide us like the Northern Ireland Protocol. We can be both richer and stronger as a result.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh.

Truss is making the poor poorer

A survey by the Financial Times found that the Conservative Party under Liz Truss has become the most economically right-wing party in the developed world.

Her economic policies have met with opposition from across the British political divide and the 'market'. She has particularly lost the trust of many lower paid workers who flocked to the Tory Party after accepting the flawed narrative that immigrants were to blame for a lack of jobs, social housing and longer waiting times in the NHS.

In no time at all, the Tory Party has gone from the traditional values of conservatism under Theresa May through the right-wing populism of a disgraced Boris Johnson to the ultra-right-wing policies of Liz Truss.

After 12 years in power, the Tories created a low wage economy meaning some chose benefits rather than becoming part of the working poor.

Truss is simply offering an ultra-right wing solution to inflation, making the poorly paid and the unemployed the scapegoats for the failure of a 'free market' which is allowed to put profit before fairness.

To be fair to Truss, she inherited a two-tier, socially divided electorate, but unfortunately for the poorly paid and the unemployed she has chosen the wrong policies to help them.

Jack Fraser, Musselburgh.

Lacking education

It is not surprising to learn that the Education Review Board tasked with genuine reform in our schools has no practising teachers, no young people and of course, no parental representatives.

Under-resourced educators struggling with large classes will no doubt still be plagued with time-consuming window-dressing directives such as primary school Progression Jotters (popularly known as “Regression Jotters”).

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh.

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