Letter: Colonial myth

ALAN Clayton (Letters, 10 February) is entitled to his views on the need for an independent Scotland, but his attempt to characterise Britain’s recent history as being distinct from Scotland’s cannot go unchallenged.

Scotland has never been a downtrodden colony of England as some would like to portray us. Mr Clayton speaks of his memories of a discredited and war-mongering Britain as if Scots were somehow divorced from it. The opposite is true, with Scots, for good or ill, being immersed as equal partners.

A fair-minded review of history will surely conclude Britain has been a force for good in the world, though there have been regrettable episodes.

Mr Clayton might wish to claim we Scots were the wee boys standing by the side while the big boys did nasty things in our name and then ran away, but that doesn’t wash. Scots have been at the heart of the British administration and its military since the Union was formed, and his selective recollection of history is an affront to the service personnel from Scotland who, for example, gave the ultimate sacrifice in helping deliver Europe from the grip of the Nazis.

It is right we should review our history; it is wrong to attempt to rewrite it.

Bill Goodall

Baird Drive

Edinburgh