Vive the republic

Joe Darby (Letters, 14 July) makes an excellent point about the need to build an egalitarian society and create an independent Scotland which is a republic, but I wouldn’t hold out for the erstwhile republicans in the SNP to make much noise about the monarchy.

The SNP has pinned its colours to the mast as a monarchist party. One should never underestimate the transformational potential of establishing an independent Scotland though.

A question we should ask is how likely are we to see a more egalitarian society being delivered by Westminster.

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At Westminster there is no prospect of even the discussion of a republic – all three of the big parties there are ardent supporters of our head of state retaining an unelected position; in Scotland meanwhile over a third of the population support a republic, and discussions of the subject are clearly on the rise.

Within the Yes camp the SNP is at least prepared to allow internal discussion on the subject, while the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) has been consistently clear in its support for an independent Scotland becoming a republic. Colin Fox of the SSP was on the television making the case for a republic recently.

Alongside the monarchy, the escalation of energy prices leading to a continual rise of fuel poverty is another issue Westminster would rather ignore that independence would give us the chance to tackle.

The SNP has promised various measures that can tackle such problems, and the SSP is committed to the re-nationalisation of power companies in Scotland so we can eliminate fuel poverty for good and bring down energy prices, something unthinkable at Westminster.

With Ukip, the Conservatives and the Orange Order all calling for a No vote, I don’t see the No camp changing and offering a progressive vision of the future any time soon.

Calum Martin

Clerk Street

Edinburgh

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