Letters: Gordon Brown may be leader needed to keep Scotland in the Union

A strong leader is required to guide Scotland away from leaving the UK, a Scotsman reader writes.

I, and I suspect the majority of Scots who support the Union, agree with the concerns of David Gerrard (Letters, 20 July).

As with Better Together, we need a strong, influential voice to galvanise support and activity to show those who would destroy the Union that, as in 2014, there is massive, undem­onstrative support for the status quo.

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I suspect Gordon Brown might just be that person, having just launched his “Think tank”.

Gordon Brown speaks in Edinburgh during the independence referendum in 2014. Picture: Andrew O'Brien/JPLicence:Gordon Brown speaks in Edinburgh during the independence referendum in 2014. Picture: Andrew O'Brien/JPLicence:
Gordon Brown speaks in Edinburgh during the independence referendum in 2014. Picture: Andrew O'Brien/JPLicence:
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Whilst I do not agree with his politics, I admire him as an individual and he is passionately concerned about the future of the UK.

It is frightening how nationalists/separatists refuse to believe all and any dire economic, financial and social warnings about the folly of breaking up the most successful nation ever.

How happy they are to condemn Scotland to greater austerity, happy to accept there will be increased taxes and happy to accept local services will be greatly diminished. They have been warned that an independent Scotland could indeed be in a similar position to Greece. Happy to accept that there will have to be a hard border between Scotland and England, our greatest economic partner. This has been well-documented in Andrew Wilson’s report.

The Scottish Financial Commission recently warned of increasing risks to the Scottish budget and last week we saw that there has been a massive shortfall in income tax receipts of £941m in 2017/18.

The ill-advised creation of Police Scotland is facing yet another annual deficit and the threat of a reduction in manpower of 300. It seems like the Scottish “government” will be pouring millions into Ferguson Shipyard and on and on.

The record of the divisive, grievance-based tenure of this near-communist regime is abysmal, yet followers refuse to believe any of it. How much better it could have been had Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon had the grace to manage Scotland in a sensible, pragmatic manner within a strong UK.

Nicola Sturgeon is aware of all of this and aware that any new referendum will not bring about the emotion-based independence she dreamt of in her teenage years. That is why she is hesitant, much to the aggravation of some of her misguided support who would condemn “the people of Scotland” – Ian Blackford’s favourite expression – to years of misery.

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So David Gerrard is correct: time for leadership from “someone of influence”, someone to step up and look at cross-party support as called for by Catherine Moorehead in The Scotsman on 9 July.

There is considerable discord within the SNP and this is the time for the silent majority to be energised and motivated.

Is Gordon Brown the person to do it?

Douglas Cowe, Aberdeenshire