Letters: Don’t blame the SNP, blame Westminster austerity

A Scotsman reader responds to a letter from yesterday which argued Scots are “referendumed out”.

Andrew HN Gray is wrong to think that there is no ­appetite for another Scottish referendum (Letters, 5 March).

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Letters: Scots are ‘referendumed out’ – we don’t want independence vote

Increasingly, Scottish Remainers are disillusioned by UK politics and the steady stream of propaganda which makes Tory dominance ­possible.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Finance Minister Derek Mackay. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA WireFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Finance Minister Derek Mackay. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Finance Minister Derek Mackay. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
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Years of anti-immigrant rhetoric in the Tory press ­convinced the public that immigrants were parasitic. In fact, they have kept our health service, construction, and farming industries afloat.

Most of them are young, so don’t linger in doctors’ surgeries or live off the welfare state. Due to Leave calls to reduce immigration to 40,000 per year, the government is stuck with an incoherent immigration policy which will disadvantage our industries.

Many think that Theresa May’s deal will put the disunity of the EU referendum to bed, once it scrapes through. But this deal is not a deal. It is a transition agreement with vague promises to preserve free trade in goods only. So the issue ain’t going away.

Years of austerity have made it difficult for the SNP government to be effective. Blame Westminster for difficulties in maintaining good NHS services, meeting environmental targets and caring for young and old. If you think public sector standards are bad here, you need to visit England more often. The weakness in the SNP campaign last referendum was the failure to deal effectively with currency matters.

I listen with interest to how they propose to implement a new currency, while accepting that Scots are now very different people from our southern neighbours.

The results of ­referenda nowadays seem to be set in stone, but the ­frequency of them isn’t.

Andrew Vass, Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh