London’s power

The serious problem with the political union between Scotland and England – which resulted in “the English parliament continuing” – is that the Westminster parliament, which concentrates power, wealth and people in London, is still to the detriment of Scotland.

The first example of this kind of partisan behaviour, which is worryingly frequent, is the transfer of 600 square miles of Scottish waters to England, passed by the Westminster parliament but contrary to international law, which has not been corrected.

Second is the case of the Scottish Crown estates – rural and urban properties and land; and huge marine assets, more than half the UK foreshore, all the seabed to 12 nautical miles and mineral rights on the continental shelf (except hydrocarbons) – which belong to Scotland.

Ownership of these is devolved, but not the management, which goes to a private company in England, so that all the revenue from these valuable assets goes straight to the Treasury, instead of to the Scottish Government and the Scottish local authorities, for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

Third is the Treasury’s repeated sabotage of Scottish ventures such as the two carbon sequestration projects, by artificially and arbitrarily inflating the costs, demanding extra “insurances” and penal “‘deposits” to ensure the cost seems too high.

This matches the prevention, in the interests of Heathrow, of Prestwick from becoming a hub airport, to Amsterdam’s gain.

It is a sad but unavoidable conclusion that the Westminster parliament works in and for the interests of London alone (especially the City of London) to the detriment of all other areas of the UK, and in particular Scotland.

Susan FG Forde

Main Street

Scotlandwell, Kinross-shire