End of the Union

John Smart (Letters, 3 January) claims it is inaccurate to state that an independent Scotland “wants to leave the United Kingdom”. But that is a confusion of the Union of the Crowns with the Union of the Parliaments.

Separating Scotland, even if it retains the same monarch, breaks up the political unit called the UK, forcing England Wales and Northern Ireland to call themselves something else.

Furthermore, if an independent Scotland retains the British monarch as its monarch, then it becomes a dominion of the British Commonwealth. In that event, it would have to style itself “the Dominion of Scotland”.

STEUART CAMPBELL

Dovecot Loan

Edinburgh