UK-wide decision
I understand Iain WD Forde’s point (Letter, 18 November), but he seems to believe that the “United Kingdom” was formed by the accession of James VI to the throne of England and Wales (in fact he ruled two different kingdoms).
In 1707, the kingdoms were united into an entity called the “Kingdom of Great Britain”, but only in the 1801 Act did an entity emerge called the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”, in 1927 amended to “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
My point is that an independent Scotland does not leave the UK: it breaks it up and creates two newly independent countries, the non-Scotland part needing a new name and facing the same international questions as an independent Scotland. It seems to me that such a major constitutional change cannot be left just to a decision by the Scottish people. Every voter in the UK would need to be consulted.
Steuart Campbell
Dovecot Loan