Letter: Holyrood sidelined after summit

IF WE didn’t know it before, we know now about the perilous nature of the world we are living in.

David Cameron’s decision at the EU summit last week was earth-shattering.

One thing is for sure. If we, as citizens of Scotland, want to influence proceedings, we have to switch our attention to our political representatives at Westminster. That is where the key decisions that will affect us fundamentally will now be made, not at Holyrood. The debate in itself will be all-consuming, it won’t just be a matter of parliamentary numbers.

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As expected, you run a piece on how all this might affect a Scottish referendum and the complex choices that Alex Salmond now has to take (Insight, 4 December). As they did after the initial financial crisis, he and his ministers are saying nothing as they work out how to take political advantage.

I would argue that it is not possible. The answer to this dilemma is simple, even for the SNP. A Scottish referendum is now low priority, as it was in their manifesto back in May. Alex Salmond should pull the plug on his referendum now. Events have overtaken him. We need to be creating stability and not further chaos, or indulging our personal constitutional fantasies.

Scottish constitutional change will have to wait for another day, beyond this parliament. That is the right thing to do for Scotland, whatever your politics. Dare I say it, it would probably be in the interests of the SNP as well, keeping their powder dry for another day. Getting our European dimension right is the immediate priority.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy