Yes threat

I AGREE very much with Joyce McMillan (Perspective, 2nd May): we must hope that our elected representatives appreciate the extent to which the people have had enough of Westminster misgovernment. The strength of Ukip and the SNP lies in the fact that they present, for many people, an opportunity to threaten a UK “velvet revolution”.

It is, therefore, essential that Better Together realises that it is all too easy for Yes campaigners to misrepresent it as a campaign for the retention of the status quo. Repeated emphasis must be put not only on the glaring flaws in the arguments for independence and the United Kingdom’s remarkable past achievements, but even more so on the opportunities for the future. 

The way to achieve a resounding No vote is to convince a sufficient number of Scots that a new devolutionary settlement, under which Scotland still shares resources and risks with our fellow UK citizens, could result in a far more emancipated Scotland than we would be under the SNP’s surprisingly limited version of independence. 

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If we vote in September for “independence lite”, future Scottish governments – without any political representation in the Westminster corridors of power – would be severely constrained by the fiscal shackles imposed by membership of a sterling zone. The absurdly limited sovereignty Scotland would achieve would not begin to justify the turmoil resulting from a Yes vote.

John Milne

Ardgowan Drive

Uddingston