Sir, – At last, after all these years the scales have fallen from my eyes, and I see the light!
I have been wasting my time all these years campaigning for Scottish independence.
It is not Scotland which has had a bad deal from the union: It is the poor souls south of the border, who have funded Scotland for the last 300 years, willingly and with good grace, only to have us whinging Jocks constantly complaining, and in recent years, demanding separation.
It was when I saw the recent poll showing that 49% of English people wanted England to be an independent country that the penny dropped, and I realised the error of my ways.
They are understandably sick fed up of subsidising us Scottish scroungers, to the tune of billions of pounds per year, endlessly.
They could be rolling in money if they were independent.
Given that the 49% was achieved without any campaigning whatsoever, the obvious next step for them, I would suggest, is to have a referendum on independence, which I’m sure the hard pressed people of England, in these tough times, would support almost unanimously.
A request to Westminster for a Section 30 Order, to enable a referendum, with our current enlightened government in place, would be a formality, and England could then resume its rightful place alongside the US, China and Russia, as a world superpower, while Scotland, and maybe Wales too, could resume their places in the backwaters of the EU.
We have held them back for too long, now is their time. I’m backing independence for England.
Les Mackay.
Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
At the mercy of a foreign country
Sir, – Nick Cole (“Scotland would have a currency”, Courier, July 16) misunderstood my letter.
I assume nothing about an independent Scotland, though I do recall Alex Salmond, during one of the 2014 TV debates, triumphantly relishing the acceptance that Scotland could “use the pound”.
As Mr Cole rightly points out, an independent country needs its own independent currency asap.
During any “transition period”, a separate Scotland would be at the mercy of what would now be a foreign country.
Should we ever get to another referendum campaign, the public needs to know that separation is not a “pick and mix” exercise where anything awkward gets magicked away.
Leaving the EU has been complicated enough. Leaving the UK and, with it, the pound would make that look like a tea party.
Dave Dempsey.
Carlingnose Park,
North Queensferry.
Win, then claim it as vote for indy
Sir, – So the Reader’s Digest version of what Nicola Sturgeon said about independence in a weekend interview was that ‘not banging on about independence all the time, increases support for it’.
Cue in their election manifesto next May, the SNP including Indyref2 but sidestepping while campaigning.
Then, when they win, claiming their victory is a huge endorsement of separatism.
No change there then.
Martin Redfern.
Melrose,
Roxburghshire.
Try a targeted approach
Sir, – There is now a need for the Scottish Government to start giving a positive message to help reassure the public the Covid-19 virus is in decline.
On the latest figures for cases of the virus in Scotland, and doubling that to allow for untested asymptomatic cases, there is roughly one case for every 5,000 of the population.
To put that into perspective, if Dundee FC had their average home attendance, then the probability is only one person in the ground would have the virus and even then they may have passed the stage of being infectious to others!
With research and advances into treating patients with Covid-19, the chances of death from the virus are rapidly declining.
Younger people in the community may still catch it but it is unlikely to be severe enough to require hospitalisation, so the question needs to be asked – what is the point of the present restrictions on everyone?
We require a targeted approach to protect those vulnerable and better identification of infectious carriers.
If New Zealand, which has smaller expenditure per head on health than Scotland, can achieve eradication of the virus in under two months should we not have the same ambition.
Eric Gibbons.
112 Coldingham Place,
Dunfermline.
Toilet changes post Covid?
Sir, – We are all hoping there will be changes for the better rising from the ashes of this horrid Covid-19 disaster. I encourage your readers to write with their aspirations.
Mine is that there will be a review of the functioning of doors accessing toilets in public use.
I have long been repulsed at having to use a door handle to open and pull toilet doors open on exit.
Not all users are punctilious about handwashing after the event. But now we must avoid contact with coronavirus in addition to human waste.
The optimum is the doorless toilet only usually seen in airports.
It is unreasonable to expect pubs and supermarkets to find enough space for that layout.
But surely those in charge of public health can cast aside the often-spurious reasons hitherto trotted out of odour retention, modesty, expediency (in common parlance “bursting”)and space saving and insist on existing doors being rehung to open outwards, giving us the undeniable top-of-the-list benefit of good hygiene.
Alastair H Anderson.
5b Dunsinnan Rd,
Wolfhill, Perth.
Why face masks rules now?
Sir, – Since face coverings became mandatory the authorities have identified an average of 13 new cases of Covid-19 per day across the country.
In the preceding month the figure was 14 per day. In April it was 312. What is the government hoping to achieve?
Do they hope this policy will reduce the daily average to 12 or 10? Think of deaf people, people with breathing difficulty, and think of shop-keepers trying to compete against Amazon. Finally, think of the environmental waste involved in the disposal of millions of masks.
There is still no randomised controlled trial on the efficacy of face masks against Covid-19 so evidence is anecdotal.
Even so, a rule about face coverings might have been understandable in April but at this point I have the familiar impression of a government that just wants to introduce rules to control the behaviour of the population.
Healthcare is a devolved area in Scotland and there are many policies the government could have considered.
Hindsight is perfect but imagine the pride if Nicola Sturgeon had said we have a temporary hospital lying empty in the SECC, no one in Scotland will be discharged from hospital into a care home without first being tested for Covid-19.
Eric Brown.
142 Gray Street,
Broughty Ferry.
