Published: 10:05 AM July 15, 2018 Updated: 8:42 AM September 18, 2020

Boris Johnson before he boards the Vote Leave campaign bus in Truro, Cornwall ahead of the EU referendum. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

Boris Johnson's use of the term 'the dream is dying' is revealing. Dreams always end when reality intrudes.

The Brexiteers have now received their wake-up call and know that the central thesis on which their argument was based – that 'they need us more than we need them' and therefore that at zero cost we would achieve frictionless tariff-free trade with the EU without the need for a hard border on the island of Ireland – was always a fantasy.

Variations on the 'death of a dream' phrase often come into play when an imagined utopia turns out to be something less than paradise. A quick Google will show it used by ex-Communists, former followers of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (whose fall was described recently in the Netflix series Wild Wild Country) and survivors of Jim Jones' People's Temple.

This reinforces the belief that Brexit is not a political act but a fanatical ideology bordering on a cult. Like those which came before, it will eventually fall.

Graham Townsend

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Boris Johnson quit saying the Brexiteers are 'suffocating by self-doubt'. Really?

Only the intelligent are plagued by self-doubt. Leave have offered no plan and have no clue.

In the immortal words of Melania Trump, 'I really don't care, do U?'

Stephen Bennett

London SW4

At Chequers last Friday Boris Johnson described Theresa May's latest Brexit proposals as 'polishing a turd'.

There is nobody better qualified to identify the activity, because a turd is what Johnson sees in the mirror every morning, and polishing his own image of himself accurately describes his entire political career.

Richard Gibbon

Portsmouth

Thank God David Davis, who threatened to resign on five previous occasions, has eventually gone. Perhaps we can get someone in his place who has a good work ethic, is honest with the public (remember the promise of the impact papers) and won't threaten to walk out every other week.

Tony Howarth

London SW3

Not everyone has a head for heights and Mrs May's vertigo has made her incapable of dealing with a split and unruly cabinet, all to the detriment of the country.

Ian Auchterlonie

Dundee

I was as excited as anyone to see Davis and Boris go. I even felt like shouting about it. However, the bloke who yelled 'Fight Brexit' throughout all the television interviews from College Green on Monday needs to have a word with himself.

I appreciate his fervour and commitment but he made our cause look (sound?) a bit silly.

Michael McGuire

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