Admit defeat and seek alternatives

I NOTE your editorial (28 April) suggesting that if Alex Salmond wants to win the independence referendum then he needs to develop a vision of “indy-lite”, and capture the votes of people who would like to see more powers for Holyrood, short of independence.

That is all well and good, but the vote in September 2014 will be on independence, and we all know what that means. He cannot try to pass off something as independence that is not independence. Yes Scotland can only sell the product described on the tin. They have already abandoned the middle ground.

If they fear a crushing defeat then the answer is not to try to sell us an alternative product, but to pull the plug on their current strategy and to seek consensus with other parties on the way ahead for greater powers. They would win greater credibility in the long run by doing that. Alex Salmond is primarily interested in his own legacy after all.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy