Border dispute

So LABOUR leader Ed Miliband gives all the sweetly sugared reasons for voting No in the referendum and sending all the Scottish Labour MPs to sit in Westminster (he is aware that most of the Labour parliaments in the past decades have only been achieved because of the high Labour vote in Scotland and, looking at reality, he doesn’t expect a Labour majority at Westminster without the Scottish Labour MPs.)

He then changes his tactics and, like the Tories, does a bit of threatening. He says that, if Scotland becomes independent, a Labour-led government at Westminster might seriously have to consider establishing border crossing control posts.

The reason being that, because the immigration policy of an independent Scotland would be so different to that in England, the border controls would be necessary to stop a backdoor flow of immigrants coming through Scotland to England.

They both show a total lack of practical knowledge about Scotland and the border. First, there are no direct passenger ferries between Scotland and Europe. The nearest are Newcastle and Hull.

Also, if they knew anything about the terrain along the border, they would know it was very wild and bare and it would be impossible to stop any determined person from crossing the border well away from any roads. This feature makes it obvious neither party cares enough to find out the reality before pontificating a lot of rubbish.

(Dr) Evan Lloyd

Belgrave Road

Edinburgh