Unequal shares

Again our Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has reiterated that we would have the capacity to have a fairer and more equal society if separate from the Union (your report, 7 June). First Minister Alex Salmond has added to this by wanting one million acres of our land area to be redistributed. Such generalised proposals continue to be superficially attractive, but nowhere is “how” spelled out.

Is there to be a redistribution of compulsory increased taxation of the “better off”? Or compulsory land sequestration from those with a few thousand acres? The moral hazard is always there – those who have worked and prospered could have assets transferred to those who, for whatever reason, have stayed poor.

This is not in itself necessarily undesirable, but given the furore about “benefit scroungers”, it would also raise questions about advocating entrepreneurship and rewarding success: why slave away when others don’t?

We really need to get into the reasoning behind our leaders assurances: egalitarianism remains a fine principle, but how will it work long term? Even with all the (declining) oil revenues, we already run a deficit, and we need urgently to put more money into public works.

Joe Darby

Dingwall, Ross-shire