Don’t vote away Scots’ advantage

WHEN Alan Thompson (Debate, 5 February) asserts that resistance to the “devo-max” or “devo-plus” option “is absolutely in the Scottish national interest” he fails to grasp what the major, overriding issue is which faces Scotland.

The spectre of a majority of Scots opting for independence has brought about many changes in how Britain is presented. No longer are we told of how in 1940 England stood alone against the Boche, or about the Queen of England or the Prime Minister of England. Although English arrogance is still a factor, there are presently checks and balances on it, and without doubt the Scottish Parliament and devolution have brought about a huge improvement to the respect that the peripheral regions of Britain now get from England.

All of this has been grudgingly conceded in the face of the perceived threat of a majority of Scots voting for independence and for no other reason. If that vote does not materialise then the threat melts away instantly and with it melts not only any prospect of further devolution in any shape or form, but also most of what has been grudgingly conceded over the last few decades.

Therefore the referendum choice is starkly simple. Forwards? Or backwards?

Scots should at least be doing themselves and their children the favour of facing up to the challenge which has been thrown down to them, rather than shilly-shallying around it and pretending it is some kind of multiple choice game which will not have permanent, life-altering consequences for generations to come.

Irvine Inglis, Reston, Berwickshire