Lack of respect is no laughing matter

David Cameron looked for laughs from Tory conference delegates by telling them that Alex Salmond is his new pen pal and compared the content of his letters to conversations with his children.

The Edinburgh Agreement states that “The United Kingdom and Scottish Governments are committed, through the Memorandum of Understanding between them and others to working together on matters of mutual interest and to the principles of good communication and mutual respect.”

Sadly it would seem that Mr Cameron needs some guidance on what constitutes the notion of respect.

Alex Salmond is the First Minister of Scotland. I can only imagine the furore that would ensue if the UK Prime Minister was to speak in such terms of the head of any other government.

I hope people understand that this is the attitude towards Holyrood that will continue to prevail in the event of a No vote next year.

Rose McAulay

Torridon Walk

Livingston

Mr Colin Hamilton (Letters, 2 October) poses an interesting question: if we had a Labour government in Scotland which supported independence, would I expect our Labour First Minister to debate the issue with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

Yes, of course I would. What is problematic about that? By the same token, if we had a Labour government in Westminster at this moment, I would expect the Labour Prime Minister to debate the issue with Alex Salmond.

Incidentally, a Scottish Lab-our government supporting independence would be a perfectly realistic possibility were it not that Labour members in Scotland must bow obediently to the dictates of their Westminster-based masters. After all, Labour for Independence is a recognised group within the movement.

Of course, a vote against independence would no more be a vote for the Tory Party than a vote for it is a vote for the SNP.

It matters not one docken to the independence case which party is in power at Westminster – a fact, I am sorry to say, which Alex Salmond appears to overlook, judging by the irrelevant reference in his letter to David Cameron to the lack of support for the Tories in Scotland.

The independence debate is not a party issue at all: the only thing that leads to it being seen as one is the pathetic assumption – which pervades political debate throughout the UK, not only in Scotland – that party allegiance is all that matters, so that any policy statement made by one party is automatically opposed by the others.

One of the reasons for supporting independence is that it will give Scotland the opportunity to develop some political maturity. But perhaps the Westminster-based parties would rather this didn’t happen.

Derrick McClure

Rosehill Terrace

Aberdeen

It is clearly disappointing, but not unexpected, to see UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, run scared from debating the issue of independence with Alex Salmond.

Mr Cameron put his name to the Edinburgh Agreement and received the plaudits, and a joint award, for this; he issues proclamations on the apparent strength of the Union; is head of a UK government publishing swathes of reports commenting on issues ranging from currency to defence in an independent Scotland, and put preserving the Union at the centre of the Tory conference.

However, when it comes to speaking up to preserve that Union in public debate he is posted missing.

His apparent defence is that it is not for him but for Alistair Darling as leader of the No campaign to debate with Alex Salmond.

However, Alex Salmond is not leader of the Yes campaign; Blair Jenkins is.

And as UK Prime Minister there is an obligation on Mr Cameron, and one he should relish, to engage in a televised debate to promote the Union’s continued existence.

Let us also not forget that this is the same Prime Minister who pledged to fight for the Union with “every fibre of his being”.

It appears, however, that this “fight” does not extend to speaking up for the Union in public debate, a shameful act of gross hypocrisy from a man who is too feart to fight.

Alex Orr

Leamington Terrace

Edinburgh