Frightening logic

I agree with Mary McCabe 
(Letters, 1 May) that “gunboat diplomacy” is not the most apt description of Alex Salmond’s threat to deny access to Scottish fishing grounds if the EU was not to dance to his tune.

A more suitable expression would surely be one of the SNP’s standard responses – “scaremongering”. But does Ms McCabe really know the meaning of the word “irrational”? In describing the SNP’s attempts to drag Scotland out of the UK and hence the EU she uses the analogy of a member being “expelled” from a club.

Scotland is not in the club. There are 28 member states of the EU; Scotland is not one of them.

What is irrational is the determination of the Yes dogmatists to ignore the evidence and go on reiterating the erroneous assertion that Scotland will “continue” its membership of the EU.

No doubt the SNP hopes that if it repeats the mantra often enough people will be beguiled into believing it.

Rationally expressing a counter-argument by pointing to the facts is dismissed as – guess what – scaremongering.

Colin Hamilton

Braid Hills Avenue

Edinburgh