Letter: Defending jobs

Despite the mishap of falling in with a rum crew of Tories in her youth, just why has grande dame of Scottish politics, the personally likeable Annabel Goldie, fallen into such indefensible error this week (your report, 7 October)?

Has she lost her marbles over the summer or attended the Jim Murphy College of bunkum and balderdash?

Her comical assertion that with independence there would be no defence jobs in Scotland really is utterly hilarious, and ignores the fact that, following the example of the Tories, over 13 years Labour cut 10,000-plus Scottish defence jobs.

The delightful Ms Goldie will doubtless have noticed there is a 5 billion-plus defence underspend in Scotland. That means, based on Scotland's population and taxes, we are not getting our fair share of the defence budget.

In other words, if we were independent and spending our defence budget in Scotland there would be another 5bn in the country, a sizeable sum, particularly as the heavily indebted Westminster government starts cutting Scotland's money.

Therefore, the defence underspend in Scotland and the defence subsidy to southern England is a direct consequence of Scotland's lack of independence.

It used to be that we were not getting our fair share of the UK revenue spend, but now as we are also shouldering our share of the ever-increasing UK debt, we are not getting our fair share of that spend either.

Angus Brendan MacNeil MP

SNP - Na h-Eileanan an Iar

Tangasdale

Isle of Barra

Outer Hebrides