Question of sport left unanswered

Published on 26/08/2012 00:00

WHY do both sides of the “stronger together” Olympics argument immediately shift from sport to the politics of Scottish independence? No mention is ever made of the obvious need for clarification of what defines a country. Team UK, as opposed to Team GB, would include Northern Ireland, whose athletes are presently allowed to represent a foreign country (Ireland) or GB, but seemingly not their own. There should surely also be a campaign to apply the allegedly superior GB strength to other sports in global competition: World Cup football and rugby are obvious examples, though world competitions at individual country level exist also in snooker and bowling. If trophies are the currency of success, a GB/UK team should apply in all sports.

The claim of being “stronger together” is based solely on numbers of medals which might – but might not – be gained, but a separate Scottish team would be to the advantage of all UK countries in terms of increased opportunity and incentive.

It is perfectly proper to build on the recent Olympic success by retaining the present GB/UK representation, but that has no bearing on the desirability or otherwise of political independence for any constituent country in the union.

Robert Dow, Tranent