Readers' Letters: SNP has no convincing case on separation

Is the Lord Advocate’s journey to the Supreme Court a fool’s errand? If the non-consequential referendum she is arguing for occurs, it will be boycotted by those who cannot face the unpleasantness of another campaign and vote. Most of us didn’t want a vote in 2014, but we fought the good fight and won.

The nationalist side has never accepted that result because they believe that Scots made a terrible mistake and should be given the chance – or forced – to vote again and get it right this time.

But hearts have hardened, as a result of incessant nationalist agitation, and pro-UK Scots will not play the SNP’s game again. The result of that would be a continuation of the current stalemate. Some commentators argue that the logjam must be broken, but why? We can continue without having a vote, and the frothing separatists can continue to froth. It won’t do them any good, and it may even do some of them harm, if they get overheated.

The SNP’s problem is that it has no case for leaving the UK. All it has is “we could be like Denmark"’, which has been ridiculed by Nicola Sturgeon’s economics adviser, Professor Mark Blyth. And, in addition it has “look at our resources”, without the slightest idea of how to utilise and monetise these resources. From the way the SNP boasts about our resources, you would think that no other country had resources – especially not England.

Denmark is often cited as a role model for a solo Scotland, says reader (Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

The stalemate is caused largely by the SNP not having a case to put before Scots that shows unequivocally that Scotland would be better off outside the UK. That is manifestly not the case, and most Scots either know that or suspect that it might be the case.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Happy union

As an Aberdonian by domicile, living in what Richard Walthew calls “the real Scotland”, I don't accept his claim that Westminster governments and the media have forced us to accept England's history, language, culture and politics (Letters, 28 July). Our town records go back to the 15th century, long before the Treaty of Union. They are in English. Doric is still our indigenous dialect. It faces no threats from Westminster.

As someone who went to school in Lancaster (burnt by a Scots army in 1322 and visited again in 1715 and 1745), my approval of the Union rests on historical facts that I know something about, particularly regarding science and health. Mr Walthew would be correct if he said that the NHS was forced on us by a Welshman in Westminster, an organisation that provides, and still does, the funding for the Medical Research Council, my first employer as a virologist in Glasgow, and a brilliantly successful UK body which funded Alexander Fleming, and June Almeida (from Dennistoun) at the time of her discovery of human coronaviruses.

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

Misinformed

Richard Walthew made some excellent points when questioning what it means to be “a proud Scot” and the political impact of 300 years of UK "indoctrination".

It is of course especially difficult for those who have not lived and worked outside of the UK to appreciate the level of political propaganda to which they have been exposed during their lifetimes and why information they might consider to be non-political, such as that presented via BBC news programmes, is not impartial, especially with regard to reporting of events in Scotland. The still alarmingly high number of drug deaths in Scotland will continue to be highlighted against drug deaths in the rest of the UK and further afield, while serious independent recommendations for the UK Government to cease criminalising drug users will be largely ignored by much of the mainstream media.

As long as Covid-19 infection rates remain even marginally higher in Scotland, the BBC, ITV and Sky will continue to inform the public of this fact, emphasised by the creative use of colourful maps and charts. But where is the information, international comparisons, maps and charts on the spread of monkey pox, recently declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation, which I understand in the UK is currently most prevalent in the south of England?

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Proud Brits

Richard Walthew's definition of the Borders as not being what he calls “real Scotland” would be disputed by most Borderers, I am sure. He says, “a multitude of English people… are passionate about Scotland being independent”. Quite so, most of them in England.

He then quotes the SNP’s “Little Red Book” about Scotland's “enormous... natural assets”, “enormous wealth if Scotland was free of Westminster strictures” and (yawn) how “Scotland would be among the top 20 richest countries” if it was independent. And he talks about propaganda!

The very big fly in the ointment is that there is absolutely nothing preventing anyone exploiting those very assets now. Nothing. Scots were at the bottom of a table of entrepreneurial activity in the UK recently, behind even Yorkshire.

The only reason why Mr Walthew can write what he writes and say what he says is because we British collectively fought and overcame the evil that other European nations would have imposed on us on several occasions. The only reason why we are prosperous is because Europe's poorest nation (that was Scotland, by the way) helped create Great Britain and kick off the Industrial Revolution, along with the English.

Incidentally, a number of countries have, indeed, expressed a wish to return to the British Empire. New England states were making approaches before the American Civil War, and recently, Sierra Leone asked to return to British rule. Many who lived under Idi Amin, or Robert Mugabe – or who are currently living in Burma – would give their eye-teeth to be under British rule, so a little less of the anti-British propaganda, Mr Walthew?

Some of us – a majority, in fact – are proud to be British and voted to remain so in 2014.

Andrew H N Gray, Edinburgh

Pay parity

With Nicola Sturgeon's focus directed towards Indyref2 and very little else, it seems that demands for her to intervene in the local authority pay disputes will fall on deaf ears. It may well be that the Scottish Government has “no formal role” in conducting pay negotiations but it holds the purse strings and cannot place the sole responsibility upon Cosla. Public sector pay awards in Scotland should at least have parity with those south of the Border, otherwise it will breed resentment and make Scots wonder if “independence” will have any real benefits if our English and Welsh counterparts are better off. Essential public sector workers like binmen and teachers deserve fair treatment.

Bob MacDougall, Oxhill, Kippen, Stirlingshire

Power points

I'm sure we all know by now to expect the most horrific increases in the price of electricity and gas as winter draws ever closer!We also learned this week that a second wind turbine in Ayrshire has burst into flames and collapsed to the ground, and now we are being told that the amount of electricity produced from such devices has fallen to an all-time low for 2022, at just 380 megawatts.Little wonder that the major electricity suppliers have recently been drawing up plans for issuing consumers with emergency consumption warnings, just in case they have to cut some customers off at peak periods this coming winter.There is no doubt that the amount of electricity we use is, at times, barely obtainable… and that is before we even look at supplying a growing number of electrically powered vehicles.The problem is that we have stopped using coal as an “outmoded” power source at the same time as our Scottish Government finds itself shutting down, bit-by-bit, our nuclear power stations for safety reasons. Wind turbines can never cope with demand.Other than building new and very costly nuclear power stations, our only source of new and lasting power is light from the sun and the millions of tons of seawater being raised and lowered by the moon on a regular and daily basis.The use of solar panels has to be expanded and made less expensive and shore-based tidal power units must be built at the many suitable sites we are lucky enough to have all around our island's coast.

Archibald A Lawrie, Kingskettle, Fife

Enough waffle

Politics seems to be in a groundhog day in Scotland. The SNP castigating Boris's replacement, no matter who, shows a desire to simply start where it left off without regard to any changes. In the meantime the devolved powers Holyrood actually has are failing spectacularly. Our health service on the brink of collapse, an economy in the doldrums and education sinking down the few lists it is still on.

At the heart of all of this is the SNP obsession with independence which is buoyed up by frequent polls where the answer might be known but not the question. The SNP has successfully kept this concept alive only by refusing to give details. Scottish politics is paralysed by this topic yet we know so little about it. As a new Prime Minister comes in, if the SNP and Greens are really serious about continuing the war against Westminster which actually helps no one, it is essential they put their cards on the table. All the big issues must be factually dealt with without waffle and not by putting forward numerous “best case scenarios” that are open to genuine doubt.

This is the future of Scotland, not a game of who is ahead in the polls. The SNP is promising a lot that might appeal to some people's heart and it is no coincidence that the real cost to Scotland needs to be known. This is where it will all go wrong and the nationalists know it.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line. Do not send letters submitted elsewhere. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.

Subscribe

Subscribe at www.scotsman.com/subscriptions