Readers' Letters: The only opinion poll that counts is an election


One has to smile at the unbounded optimism of people like Elizabeth Scott, who writes that the Lion awakes, having seen a poll where 54 per cent of Scots, excluding the unknowns, apparently support Yes when it comes to Independence (Letters, 10 December). Grasping any straw in a storm, she then goes on to talk about the opportunities with the EU in exports.
I hate to burst her bubble, but over 60 per cent of Scotland’s exports go to England despite the UK having been a member of the EU for 40 years. If she complains about Brexit’s apparent damage on exports to the EU, one can only imagine how much damage Scexit would do to Scotland’s trade with England. Scotland shares an island with England and Wales, a common language and a common currency – leaving the UK would be Brexit on speed.
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Hide AdThen the opinion poll. The only opinion poll that counts is an election, and here only recently, the SNP rightly got hammered for the damage they have done to Scotland over 17 years.
It is nice to dream, so dream on, Ms Scott, as that is the only place you will find Scotland leaving the UK. Voters in my homeland are far too bright to vote to leave the UK. Despite a biased question (Yes/No) as against a more balanced one (Remain/Leave), Scots voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the UK where the Lion is indeed rampant, and shall remain so.
In a similar vein, would the SNP please return Scotland’s saltire to its rightful place as a flag for ALL the people of Scotland?
Brian Barbour, Berwick Upon Tweed, Northumberland
History lesson
Through “independence” (albeit constrained by EU membership) Elizabeth Scott wants to “make Scotland great again”. Again? To what mythical period does she refer?
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Hide AdShe writes “read your history”. Has she ever read Arthur Herman’s The Scottish Enlightenment, the Scots’ invention of the Modern World on the flowering of our nation following the 1707 Union and after the dark years of control and suppression by our home-grown Taliban?
Maybe there could be some benefits in secession, just as there could be from Brexit, but let us have the case founded on comprehensive historical facts and credible future policies and practices which would be impossible within the UK.
John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife
We pay our way
It's always pleasing to see unionists taking the matter of Scotland's finances seriously. Jill Stephenson (Letters, 7 December) concedes that UK debt is a problem, yet claimed to laugh at me for addressing it from a Scottish perspective in my letter the previous day. It would appear she does not understand that international trade creates demand for sterling on currency markets. Scotland's £180 billion economy adds value and our exports are a key driver of demand for sterling abroad.
For example, Scotland's oil is sold in dollars which are then recycled back on to UK imports. This is how international trade works and I cannot understand why Jill does not appear to understand this.
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Hide AdIn her letter she also raised a question about who bridged the budget gap. The UK Government issues debt to fund the spending gap. No one denies that. Some of that borrowing happens in Scotland's name as a consideration of Scotland's considerable contribution to the UK economy. Ms Stephenson could have answered her own question if she understood how the state which she supports actually functions. It is not a contentious point.
Scotland controls roughly 40 per cent of its spending and Holyrood must by law balance its budget every year. Whitehall controls the rest of the spending and so any overspends and deficits arise due to the profligacy of Whitehall, not Holyrood! Scotland bridged its budget deficit last year, as it does every year. The debt used to finance any of Scotland's budget shortfalls, created by Whitehall, is issued by the UK state of which Scotland is a member. Scotland pays into this state and supports the UK currency and economy through its exports, taxation and economic activity. Scotland more than pays its way.
Ms Stephenson asked me to provide evidence in relation to economists who consider that Whitehall's borrowing would be unsustainable without input to its economy from Scotland. I would refer her to a published article on this subject in 2018 by the Research Team of Forex Capital Markets. Forex examined the likely impact of the removal of Scotland's contribution to the UK economy upon the pound sterling in the event of independence. In the summary of their analysis it stated that in such circumstances their own valuation would be of sterling being thrown “into chaos”. It would appear that their economists might know something about economics that Ms Stephenson doesn't!
Jim Finlayson, Banchory, Aberdeenshire
Unholy alliance?
Amid speculation that Anas Sarwar and Nigel Farage would contemplate working together to oust the SNP from government in Holyrood, it appears informative to consider whether the Scottish public should welcome or abhor the possibility of such a seemingly “unholy alliance”.
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Hide AdCertainly the reservations many in Scotland already had about Mr Sarwar’s political sincerity were confirmed with his numerous contradictory changes in position on payment of the Winter Fuel Payment, as well as his wavering support for ending the two-child benefit cap. On the BBC’s Question Time on Thursday evening Mr Farage, the cheerleader for Brexit with the cry “Britain must have control over its borders”, refused to defend Brexit almost five years after the UK's withdrawal from the EU and instead, without any sense of irony, duplicitously insisted that the British public now needed to vote for Reform UK so “Britain can take control of its borders” and reduce immigration.
Certainly, both of these gentlemen appear to have much in common in their shallow soundbites and patronising approach to politics, let alone incredible brass necks, and should these two gentlemen come into power at Holyrood and Westminster then personally I fear the long-term damage to the economic and social prospects not only of Scotland, but the rest of the UK too.
As for John Fraser’s argument (Letters, 6 December) that because some other European countries are currently experiencing economic problems, Scotland, if independent, should not consider joining the EU (or perhaps EFTA or the EEA), this stance not only denies the 5 per cent estimated fall in annual UK GDP due to Brexit (robbing public services of massive potential funding), it denies an array of cultural, social and educational benefits.
Furthermore, Mr Fraser significantly undermines his own arguments by quoting a debt figure for France to indicate its economy “is going pear-shaped”, when the UK's debt is almost ten times higher at £2.8 trillion.
Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian
Blindsided
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Hide AdI fully support Stephen Jardine’s article (“A 1960s museum piece that is falling apart at the seams”, 7 December). I have been well cared for at the Eye Pavilion for many years, and can attest to the wonderful blend of kindness and efficiency which the staff have always shown in difficult circumstances,even through the Covid period.
I would add another concern to Mr Jardine’s comments on the maintenance of the building. My last visit was in January this year. Before leaving, I was asked to make a new appointment for September, and a few days later I got a letter confirming an appointment for 23 September. On 10 April I received a follow-up letter informing me that my appointment was cancelled, as the booking system was being radically changed, and I would be informed of my new appointment nearer to my “planned review date”. I heard no more, so early in September I called the contact number, in case I had missed a communication. I was assured I was on a waiting list and would hear in due course. A matter of days after that, I saw in the media that the Eye Pavilion was going to be closed for six months.
I am now nearly three months past the specialist’s recommended date for my next visit, and have heard nothing. Given the extreme uncertainty that has existed for so long over the state of the building, what on earth was the point of adding to patients’ confusion by changing the appointments system, and leaving us in limbo? The excellent medical care is being undermined by apparently piecemeal planning at all levels. I am sure I speak for other patients, many of whose needs may be significantly greater than my own.
John Wade, Newington, Edinburgh
False optimism
Martin O'Gorman is either being naive or disingenuous in the way he celebrates the fall of Assad of Syria (Letters, 10 December). Yes, Assad was no Mother Teresa but neither are many, if not most, governments around the world. Recent history tells us that in the Middle East the removal of one tyrant leads to the appearance of ten tyrants. The new de facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, was a member of al-Qaeda, the terrorist group accused of instigating the 9-11 Twin Towers attack. He is personally linked to atrocities in Syria.
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Hide AdOur TVs show us hundreds of Syrians on the streets celebrating. But I would bet that for each one of these there are 100 people in Syria cowering in their homes wondering what will happen next. History is written by the victors.
Geoff Moore, Alness, Highland
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