Sir, I couldn’t disagree more with the views of Dr John Cameron (letters, August 16) that an “it’ll be alright on the night” attitude is “profoundly irresponsible”.
I take the opposite view. Confidence in the ability of the people of Scotland to overcome whatever problems independence throws up is exactly why I believe independence would be good.
I use a simple analogy of my own life experiences on which to base my faith in an independent Scotland.
Coming from a working class background and with no educational qualifications I left school at 15 and drifted aimlessly through jobs without any ambition dockyard apprenticeship, brief spell in the merchant navy, then as a construction worker, until I found myself blacklisted.
Only when faced with adversity and supporting a wife and family did I get a grip of myself. With no money, but what I could borrow from a few friends, I started my own business with nothing other than a faith in my own ability and a grim determination to succeed.
And I did. Running a successful engineering business which employed many hundreds over 25 years and retiring without owing a penny.
Adversity brings out the best in us and in that respect I am convinced that the people of Scotland, individually and collectively, as a people of all backgrounds and origins, will face the future with the will to succeed.
Dr Cameron says we should heed Scottish financial gurus and “central bankers worldwide”.
Again based on my own personal experiences, I retired with a hard-earned pension pot invested in the funds run by the very people Dr Cameron says we should listen to.
Within weeks I saw my fund cut in half by the “unexpected” global downturn none of the financial experts and bankers saw coming.
Born in England of mainly Irish descent I look forward with confidence to a bright future for my children and grandchildren in an independent Alba.
Go for it.
Tom Minogue. 94 Victoria Terrace, Dunfermline.
We should all take note and ca’ canny
Sir, I am writing to applaud the courage of Alex Murray the previous SNP Provost of Perth and Kinross Council for admitting that he had been “a bit naive” about the current attempt to gain Scottish independence.
Alex Murray is a thoughtful ex-politician and not given to sudden acts of bravado. His was a considered view of what the decision that faces us is about and to his eternal credit, he is brave enough to admit that he had got it wrong.
Alex Salmond has very few answers to the important questions that face us all in this referendum.
It was patently obvious in the televised debate that Mr Salmond has no answer whatsoever to the currency issue, one of the areas identified by Mr Murray, along with EU membership, as being an area that could damage Scotland badly if we were foolhardy enough to vote “yes”.
The Scottish Government’s current attempt to drag the NHS into the debate when it is widely known that Westminster has no say, whatsoever, in the Scottish health service, highlights their desperation.
The only involvement Westminster has had with the Scottish NHS, is to provide £1.3 billion of additional funding since 2011.
Mr Murray’s call for a debate to be had on federalism within the UK is more likely to be of benefit to Scotland than the current attempt by the few to bounce the majority into a vote they didn’t want or ask for.
When lifelong SNP members are questioning the wisdom of independence, we really do have to take note and ca’ canny.
Cllr Ian Campbell. Highland Ward PKC, 1 West Park, Stanley, Perth.
Let’s not get fooled again
Sir, Scotland and Iraq hold the dubious distinction of being the only countries in the world to get poorer after discovering oil. Now, with news of another oil bonanza being discovered in Scottish waters, we have that rare, golden opportunity to fix the mistakes of the past.
The mind boggles at what billions of pounds worth of investment could do to transform this country.
Thousands of jobs and apprenticeships could be created, badly needed infrastructure projects could take off, and a living wage, alongside good pensions for the elderly, could do much to address inequality.
Or, we could hand over the money to Westminster (again!) and trust them to look out for us, just like in the 1980s, when Scotland stagnated. Let’s not get fooled again.
R M F Brown. Markinch.
Why no Bank of Britain?
Sir, At the time of the union the English were determined never to relinquish their national identity and the best example of this is the fact the name of the central bank was not changed to Bank of Britain.
In fact this is probably the main reason why people from overseas refer to the whole of the UK as “England”. All the legal sterling banknotes say “Bank of England” on them.
Graham Young. 37 Polepark Road, Dundee.
Outweighed by certainties
Sir, We have heard a great deal about the uncertainty of voting “yes”, well here are a few things we can be sure of if we vote “no”.
We will still have a national debt rising, despite the “economic recovery”, towards an unserviceable £1.6 trillion.
Trident will be replaced, at a cost of £100 billion to hard-pressed tax payers.
The unelected House of Lords will expand even further, at a cost of more than £100 million per annum.
As has happened for the last 40 years, all those extravagances will be subsidised by the frittering of oil revenues, irrespective of any market price volatility.
A jingoistic government, addicted to foreign intervention, will continue to “stick its nose in” across the globe.
Minimum wage earners will suffer taxation of around 30%, whilst multi-millionaires will employ loopholes to avoid paying any income tax at all.
Industry and commerce will continue to coagulate in and around London, to the detriment of elsewhere.
Worst of all, we will be left with a Holyrood Parliament powerless to reverse any one of those catastrophes.
I think those certainties outweigh any uncertainty and I will be voting “yes”.
Joseph G Miller. 44 Gardeners Street, Dunfermline.
Every argument undermined
Sir, Alex Salmond revealed that he won’t outline his currency Plan B until after the referendum. Mr Salmond said: “I have never known any trade unionist go into a period of negotiation saying this is what we want, but incidentally I’ll tell you what we’ll settle for. That way you’ll never get the best option.”
Mr Salmond made the remarks on the same day that an ICM opinion poll showed that 45% of Scots believed that independence would be bad for the economy and 52% said the SNP Government’s position on currency isn’t credible.
The remarkable thing has been how little public opinion has changed. Not a single independently commissioned poll has ever shown Yes in the lead. Scots will be astonished that Mr Salmond is asking us to risk everything on separation when he won’t even tell us what currency we would use.
He needs to come clean and tell Scots what his Plan B is. The majority of Scots will be puzzled why he can’t, or won’t, tell us what money our wages, pensions and benefits would be paid in, or what currency we would use to pay for schools and hospitals in a separate Scotland.
His failure to tell us the back-up plan will undermine every argument he makes between now and September 18.
In just over one week up to one million people in Scotland will start to receive their postal vote. It’s incredible that we will be voting without knowing what currency we would use if we left the UK.
Avril Simpson. Field Studio, Welton Corner, Forfar.
Challenging the process
Sir, In my view, Luke Rendall’s recent letter relating to the Pipeland Farm site in St Andrews is misleading and ill informed. He states that STEPAL is looking to challenge the decision of Fife Council to grant planning permission. This is contradictory to the statement made by STEPAL and reported in your paper on August 14.
A judicial review challenges the process by which a decision was made, not the decision itself. In the case of Pipeland, the site was designated green belt land. Under the Planning Acts, Fife Council, as planning authority, may only grant planning permission for a green belt site in accordance with the development plan. The development plan only permits development on the green belt if no other suitable site is available.
An internal Fife Council document from 2012 describes Kilrymont as “a viable alternative option for the location of a new school . . . albeit one which is not supported politically by the current administration”.
As was reported in this paper, St Andrews University had made it clear to Fife Council that the North Haugh site was also available. Fife Council has said a lot about the desirability of these alternative sites. However, the development plan is only concerned with availability, not any other factor. If Fife Council did not do what the planning acts demanded then its actions are unlawful.
Mr Rendall is entitled to his views. However, the ability to hold a public body to account if it does not act lawfully is vital to our democratic system of government. To suggest that the rule of law should not apply in situations like this is absurd.
Bill Sangster. (former Fife Councillor for St Andrews), 24 Main Street, Strathkinness.
Great source of encouragement
Sir, The Living Room for the City exhibition which opened last week at the Hannah Maclure Centre shows what great creativity there is in our community. Workshops have been held all around the city over the past month, inviting anyone to join in designing and creating lamps.
The creations which are on show give a great sense of the enthusiasm of the people of Dundee to get involved in design in a personal and imaginative way. This is, of course, a source of great encouragement to all of those involved in V&A Dundee.
Alongside those who have participated, I would like especially to thank the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery whose support has enabled this project to reach further and engage more fully with the community than we could possibly have done otherwise.
This is just one way in which the players are helping us and I hope that those amongst your readers who take part in the lottery will take pleasure in seeing the local impact of their funding.
Philip Long. Director V&A Museumof Design, Dundee.
City status has not helped
Sir, Re Perth city centre sees decline in shoppers (August 18), it’s no wonder, the parking charges of 90p for one hour and £1.90 for two are far too high!
The amount of empty shops in the centre is awful, plus every Saturday and Sunday there are people begging there, the same ones every week.
Down the lane beside Tesco Metro there was litter from end to end. It was still there on Sunday afternoon.
I thought getting city status was supposed to help Perth but to me it has just become dirtier and worse than ever.
D A Black. 20 Glendevon Road, Perth.
This would be a retrograde step
Sir, With reference to the article on the decline in shoppers in Perth city centre, one major problem is that Perth is a medieval city with a medieval street layout. This certainly does not help car parking.
Furthermore, the growth of supermarkets and megastores outside the city is a major factor in discouraging city centre shopping. The park and ride system is a big help, but to remove the park and ride from Scone to build yet another supermarket is a massive retrograde step.
Perhaps a minibus jump on and jump off circuit round the centre of the city is worth a trial?
W G Watson. 20 Spoutwells Drive, Scone.
Surely not…!
Sir, It is halfway through August, the children have returned or about to return to school from their summer holidays and, to my horror, what did I encounter on a visit to Dobbies, Monifieth, the other day? Box after box of Christmas cards and employees filling shelves with Christmas decorations. There are more than four months to go before Christmas!
E Radley. 22 Tay Street, Monifieth.