No Braveheart

It is difficult for Lord Wallace to go from a position, as he did  in the Claim of Right, that it is “the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs”, to now believe that the issue of sovereignty, and dictating the terms of the referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future, lies firmly with Westminster.

The trappings of power as  Advocate General have clearly gone to Lord Wallace’s head.

Alex Orr

Leamington Terrace

Edinburgh

I regret that, unlike Brian Brotherston (Letters, 20 August), I shall not be able to attend the Tattoo this year, because I am playing bagpipe for dancing at ceilidhs each evening while it is on.

I particularly regret not hearing the band of the Norwegian King’s Guard – from a nation of similar size to Scotland which took independence from a united kingdom with a larger neighbour, Sweden, in 1905.

Norway’s relationship with Sweden is excellent.

Although they have made different choices over European Union and Nato membership, they co-operate closely through the Nordic Council.

Intermarriage is frequent. I hope for and expect a similar relationship between an independent Scotland and the other nations of these islands.

And I look forward to the continuation of Edinburgh’s festivals and the Tattoo in an independent Scotland which emphasises world friendship.

David Stevenson

Blacket Place

Edinburgh

As a Scot living in London but a regular visitor to my birthplace, I am dismayed by the shallowness and shortsightedness of the independence debate.

Surely the discussion should not be about current politics and economics but about the past 300 years and the next, for independence is forever.

Did Scotland (virtually bankrupt in 1707) benefit from the Union over that time? Will Scotland on its own be better placed to survive the rising power of Asia? Our eyes should be on the far horizon, not on our navels.

Rodney Pinder

Stradella Road

London