So much for unity

George Kerevan (Perspective, 22 November) complains of the absence of unity on the Left, but advocates yet another division between people who happen to live above or below Carlisle.

The ones below Carlisle are apparently not up to socialism, because “much of the English working-class votes Tory or Ukip”.

Actually, only 34 per cent of those who voted nationally in the last election did so for the Tories, and if Mr Kerevan doesn’t think there are plenty of right-wing views in Scotland about migrants and Roma, then he should sit in on some of my focus groups.

But the main point is that a commitment to democracy means that we work and argue with people as they are.

There is nothing socialist or democratic about saying: if 
you don’t like what people are electing, then you elect another electorate.

Greg Philo

Glasgow University Media Group

Adam Smith Building

Bute Gardens

Glasgow

The important issue of the 
“economic boundaries imposed by global capitalism” is raised by George Kerevan.

There is no more pertinent example for a possibly independent Scotland than ongoing negotiations with Iran.

What will be the effect on oil prices in the long run if a deal is reached? It would be rational to
assume that an additional million barrels a day would hit 
global prices.

Doesn’t this show how the 
political economy of international relations impacts on a country’s domestic economy?

Arguably, economic interdependence severely limits what the “radical left” can do 
to “meaningfully transform Scottish society.”

Ellis Thorpe

Old Chapel Walk

Inverurie