United we fell
Brian Cox (Letters, 10 May) appears to argue that we should stick with the Union because Scotland’s economy and population size have risen since 1707. So have those of most other countries. Back then Scotland had one inhabitant to about five in England. Now it is one to more than ten.
This does not suggest to me that Scotland has prospered.
By comparison with European countries of similar size I would expect a Scotland which had escaped the Union to have a population of more than ten million people – twice what we have now.
And I would expect a much more thriving economy – had we built up an oil fund like that of Norway there would have been no problem bailing out banks in difficulty, had that been necessary.
We cannot know in detail how changing one event would have changed history but it can be thought-provoking to speculate.
David Stevenson
Blacket Place