Televised debate issue will not go away

The point which David Cameron and some of your correspondents fail, or refuse, to recognise is that Alex Salmond is seeking a debate with Mr Cameron not as leader of the independence movement, which he is not, but as head of the Scottish Government.

It is surely proper, and indeed obvious, that a matter concerning the constitution of the United Kingdom should be discussed by the leaders of the Scottish and the UK governments; and for Mr Cameron to suggest that it does not concern him is simply ridiculous.

The independence movement is not the same thing as the SNP: it has support from members of other parties and from people with no party allegiance at all.

Indeed, at the independence rally on 21 September, banners and placards were visible which read: “A vote for independence is not a vote for the SNP.”

Alistair Darling should understand this perfectly well, since the No campaign of which he is the leader is very much a cross-party effort.

The co-ordinator of the independence campaign is Blair Jenkins, and if Mr Darling wants to debate the issue on television he is the man whom he should confront. I am sure Mr Jenkins would be delighted at the prospect.

Derrick McClure

Aberdeen

It is encouraging that apart from further personal attacks aimed at our First Minister, Andrew HN Gray (Letters, 30 September) has edged away from the misrepresentative and derogatory comments seemingly favoured by those supporting the continuance of Westminster’s economic control of Scotland when attempting to argue the case against independence.

The wry humour demonstrated in his remark that Mr Salmond “dare not face up to the inevitable evisceration and filleting that he will sustain at the hands of Alistair Darling” almost brought tears to my eyes! From a more serious perspective, proponents of a No vote in the referendum who watched Mr Darling’s bumbling performance on BBC’s Politics Show last Sunday must have cringed as he appeared incapable of arguing even marginally beyond his prepared answers when responding to simple questions which were in truth rather tame.

Of course Mr Darling could perhaps look for help in an appropriately contrived debate from the political leaders of other parties in Scotland such as Johann Lamont, Willie Rennie or Ruth Davidson, but if, as they persistently tell us, the referendum is indeed important both for Scotland and for Great Britain, surely it is logical for the leaders of the relevant governments, and arguably two of the UK’s foremost politicians, to publicly debate Scotland’s constitutional destiny.

Given that Mr Darling’s seemingly limited debating skills are not masked by an over-ebullient personality (read: “hardly likely to enthuse even the most-die-hard Labour supporters who survive in a city that our politicians failed for decades”), no doubt there is a pragmatic argument among those supporting a Yes vote to simply accept Mr Cameron’s stance on this matter.

But surely all Scots, especially those not yet committed to vote either way, deserve the highest level of open and objective debate before such a pivotal decision.

Stan Grodynski

Longniddry

East Lothian

One of my little pleasures in life is reading Andrew H N Gray’s diatribes and wondering at which point he will go over the top and destroy his argument.

This time it was not until his last paragraph. Although I am not a supporter of Alex Salmond, or his party, I was vastly amused at the image of Alistair Darling, arrayed in blue and white butcher’s apron, figuratively and politically disembowelling and gutting the bold Alex. I was reminded of a remark by Dennis Healey that being attacked by Geoffrey Howe was like being savaged by a dead sheep, and that his opponent was a sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Is Mr Gray suggesting that Salmond is too feart (or frit, to use Margaret Thatcher’s equivalent word) to face the ferocious Darling who would, by implication, do a better butchering job than his preferred adversary, David Cameron, who would not be so feral?

I, for one, would like a ringside seat for a Salmond versus Cameron bout, and so, I think, would quite a number of people.

At the moment the polls, for what they are worth, indicate that the No vote will prevail and, if they prove to be correct, surely David Cameron is in a better position than Alistair Darling to tell us what the position of the Scottish parliament will be post-referendum.

John R Murdoch

Pitlochry