English move in

Alan Black (letter, 20 August) makes some valid points from a Unionist standpoint. However, even if it is true "that many more Scots hold middle class professional jobs in England than are held by the English in Scotland" what matters is proportions - those Scots are a drop in the English ocean, but the English here constitute 10 to 12 per cent of the population.

The English abroad are often accused of forming ghetto expat communities, for instance, in France and Spain. I have not noticed any such tendency in Scotland. That might be for the good reason that they feel comfortable as "honorary Scots", but my suspicion is that many more simply regard moving to Scotland as no different to moving to, say, Northumberland. No need to adjust, to conform, to fit in; no different history or culture to take an interest in.

Meanwhile, we Scots are treated to an unending series of entirely Anglo-centric historical and cultural broadcasts on TV and radio (in which Britain is simply England's new name from 1707).

But this is not their problem, it's ours, and I would welcome a Unionist explanation of how a distinctively Scottish culture can survive in the long term in the face of the massive indifference of the increasingly numerous English, particularly in view of the repeated complaint of English domination of our cultural quangos.

Alan Oliver

Battock Road

Brightons, Falkirk