Independence is a non-starter

Published on 29/07/2012 00:00

IN RELATION to your editorial (22 July), it is not in Alex Salmond’s gift to redefine what independence is, by stealth or otherwise. Independence is easily understood, and we know what it means. With all the various U-turns and compromises that have been made to try to make it more palatable, it appears that what we will actually be offered in 2014 is a form of federalism within the UK, only without appropriate negotiations ­having first taken place with the other home nations. In reality, it will neither be one thing nor the other.

Independence has to look like independence and sound like independence, otherwise it is something else. I am sure I am not the only person thinking that the inevitable consequence of all this is that an excuse will be found not to have the referendum at all, or it will be deliberately crashed into the courts to prolong the arguments for another day. We can all see that independence is not a runner. A strong leader would see this and admit it, and we could then progress from that point.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy