Cultural ties

I am Scottish because I was born here and live here; either or both qualifications will generally suffice.

For the same reasons I am also British. I am also European. If Scotland votes Yes in September I will still be all of these things.

I will still have a shared history with many others in these islands and beyond. I will still have grandparents who fought alongside the English and many other nationalities in two world wars.

I will still be able to visit my friends and relatives in the other parts of the British Isles. I will still be able to trade with them as I do now. I’ll still cheer on Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis in the Olympics and root for Lee Westwood in the Ryder Cup.

Mr Milne will still be able to enjoy the music of Vaughan Williams and Thomas Hardy’s tales.

If we vote Yes in September, the cultural, social and historical things that tie the British together will remain much the same.

This is despite the retched spinning of the Better Together campaign and its obsession with the words “foreign” and “foreigners” which, in my view, are designed to appeal to the rather unfortunate narrative being built up in the Westminster bubble by Ukip and others.

If we vote Yes in September we will have democracy within our reach. The key decisions about my future and those of other Scots will be taken by people who are just down the road and if we don’t like what they do or say, we can vote them out.

We can even go and visit them face to face and tell them what we think if we so choose.

There are many reasons to vote Yes but concerns about not being British aren’t one of them. Indeed they are not physically possible.

Jonathan Gordon

Brunstane Road

Edinburgh