Negative effects

I see finance secretary John Swinney has claimed the House of Lords thinks “Scotland is too small and too poor” to be an independent country. He is the latest in a long line of those advocating a split to use these or similar words, although there is little evidence that any supporter of the Union, let alone their lordships, has actually uttered them, or even voiced similar sentiments.

Those in favour of keeping Scotland in the UK are often accused of “negativity”, “talking Scotland down” or “anti-Scottishness”. Yet surely the constant repetition by Nationalists of the phrase “Scotland is too small and too poor”, despite being ­attributed to (unidentified) 
anti-­independence supporters, can only have a negative effect upon the perception of Scotland, and do it more harm than anything emanating from the Better Together campaign.

Jane Ann Liston

Largo Road

St Andrews