Sir, – I would like to know what we will gain as an independent country.
We have heard nothing about currency, pensions, import duties, affordability, and I could go on.
Our trade with our neighbours is four times that with Europe. Everything manufactured in England would be subject to import duty.
What about vehicle registrations and the DVLA? Will we have to pay for the creation of a new system?
We would have to spend a huge amount on the duplication of everything currently handled by the UK.
How about borders, passport requirements, health insurance – all required if travelling from an independent Scotland to England and Ireland – if we rejoin the EU?
We have heard nothing about how these problems would be handled, which leads one to wonder how on earth could our economy cope.
How would we manage a pandemic without the huge amount of money given from Westminster?
We keep hearing the SNP pleading for more.
The UK Government has supplied £8.6 billion over and above Scottish entitlement to help cope with the furlough.
Regarding import of goods, giant container ships can only dock at a few container ports in the south of England.
This would mean the construction of at least two ports in Scotland to cope.
Taking into consideration the state of education, police, and the health service, which have all deteriorated since the SNP took control, I think an independent Scotland would be a financial disaster.
I have just listened to Kate Forbes’ Budget speech, and she is still trying for more aid from England.
We are better off as a union. In fact, the best course of action would be to abolish Holyrood and revert to the Scottish Office system. Together we stand, divided we fall.
Peter McCormack.
Errol, Perthshire.
PM ignored his own Covid guidance
Sir, – Stay home, save lives, protect the NHS.
This has been the message from Boris Johnson and his Tory government.
However, Boris Johnson has ignored that.
He has decided that a PR trip to Scotland to “save” the union should take precedence over people’s health.
This is not a surprise, as all throughout the pandemic the Tories have thought the driver to make profit should trump people’s health. Johnson has done the usual with a stage-managed visit to a facility well away from the public.
He came to Scotland from a Covid-19 hotspot. He didn’t respect social distancing and wore a non-surgical mask.
This is a man who has overseen more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths.
He issued a half-hearted non-apology for this while trying to wash his hands of culpability
The new variant of Covid-19 is also estimated to be 70% more transmissible than the previous incarnation.
Boris Johnson had this information for 17 days before he imposed a new national lockdown.
So he is solely responsible for that decision. Scientists were telling him to impose a lockdown and he delayed.
Johnson’s trip was defended by Tony Blair clone Sir Keir Starmer.
His party functions as de facto coalition partners of Johnson, in a unionist alliance.
They try to cover up the antagonisms caused in Scotland by being in the union.
Alan Hinnrichs.
Gillespie Terrace, Dundee.
Acting quicker and tougher on climate
Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon is on record as saying, if she had her time again on the pandemic, she would have acted quicker, and with tougher actions, so avoiding the death rates we have seen. The same logic applies to the climate emergency.
We have seen the new US administration act swiftly to stop “dirty” projects like the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and to halt further licensing for fossil fuel extraction on government land. We need similar action and leadership in Scotland today. Further road dualling projects should be halted, and any money currently subsidising air travel or airports repurposed.
Iain MacDonald.
Grove Road, Broughty Ferry.
