Sir, – Would you like us to have the freedom to trade with whoever we want, whenever we want and at a price that’s mutually agreeable?
That’s what free trade is. As a buyer you’re free to buy what you want; a seller is free to sell what they want.
If both parties are free to choose and can reach an agreement, we discover the price of something.
It is the price that is beneficial to both sides.
If either buyer or seller is not happy, they are free to walk away and no trade would happen
The EU is not a free trade organisation.
We are only free to trade with the other 27 nations inside it.
We are not free to trade with the rest of the world. We can’t easily choose to trade with nations outside that bloc.
That’s a form of coercion. We are not freely making that choice; it’s being imposed on us.
This puts Britain in an interesting position when negotiations begin. What are our core principles? Are we willing to take a position with economic liberty at its core?
As negotiations begin, expect to hear talk of things like allowances, deals, tariffs and so on.
The big, bold thing to do would be for Britain to open up for business on a free trade basis with every nation on the planet, EU or not.
Tell the other 27 countries in the EU they can sell what they want, when they want and at a price they want to Britain, without fear of tariffs or duties.
It is just that they’ll be competing freely with every other country in the world.
In other words, take a stand for freedom and attach no strings to the deal. Do not coerce or threaten. Then see what the EU offers. We at least would be negotiating from a position of principle.
John Dorward.
89 Brechin Road,
Arbroath.
Let us just get on with Brexit
Sir, – The bewilderment of Nicola Sturgeon to the momentous events of 2016 and their ramifications for politics in 2017 is clear for all to see.
Her rash dismissal of Donald Trump as Scotland’s business ambassador and her undiplomatic invective against him while openly supporting Hilary Clinton doesn’t appear to have been a very smart decision.
She also completely miscalculated the outcome of the EU referendum result and was probably shocked to learn that, according to polls, at least 38% of her own supporters voted to leave the EU.
Brexit is a done deal and by all accounts will succeed as reports suggest that Britain last year was the strongest of the world’s advanced economies with growth accelerating in the six months after the Brexit vote.
Her obsessive compulsion to focus on the EU when the distinct possibility of a trade agreement with America is on the cards and dismissing the £45 billion in trade with the rest of the UK seems preposterous and lacking in any imaginative, positive or optimistic thinking.
Ms Sturgeon has painted herself into a corner. The electorate and now many of her supporters are having none of it.
Iain G Richmond.
Guildy House,
Monikie.
SNP needs bolder vision
Sir, – Would Nicola Sturgeon please recognise that the great issues at stake in the United Kingdom are not about personal vanity but ensuring that she represents all of the Scottish electorate during a complex time.
The SNP rationale of reducing every issue to a soundbite might suit the news bulletins but does nothing to engage responsibly in the real debates that need to be addressed in the country over the next few years.
She is showing herself as a narrow, parochial politician. Be bigger.
Gerry Marshall.
Thistle Cottage,
Kinnesswood.
Look to new opportunities
Sir, – It was with astonishment that I read (January 7) that Nicola Sturgeon is now offering to withdraw the threat of a second referendum, as long as the British Government stays in the single market.
This is astonishing because calling a second referendum was never going to happen when support for it is so low, and because the SNP now has a stated policy of giving up on the idea of independence (except in some dim and distant date in the future) in order to influence the UK to stay in the EU.
Those of us who are SNP supporters are amazed that our party has now become the party of double dependence (on the EU and the UK) and not the party of independence.
It is perhaps time for the SNP to stop seeing itself as the progressive saviour of the EU and get on with governing Scotland, with more initiatives like the excellent baby box scheme and more action on education, the NHS and transport.
The party should be seeking to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Brexit, encouraging a more enterprising economy and stopping the doom and gloom predictions and the empty threats.
David Robertson.
14 Shamrock Street,
Dundee.
A lesson in Scots history
Sir, – I enjoyed Angus Whitson’s piece about his ancestry (January 7) but his knowledge of history is rather suspect.
His possible ancestors did not march out against Henry VIII’s invading army. The boot was very much on the other foot as it was James IV of Scotland who invaded England to help his allies, the French.
Sportingly, but rather unwisely, he gave his fellow monarch a month’s notice of his intention to invade, which perhaps accounts for the disastrous outcome of the invasion.
Robert Cairns.
Eastergate Cottage,
Harrietfield,
Perthshire.
Inaccurate predictions
Sir, – An enormous crack in the ice of Antarctica is about to create the world’s biggest iceberg measuring 1,900 square miles.
This equates to an area the size of the Scottish Borders.
Professor Adrian Luckman the lead researcher from the Midas project which has been studying the stability of the Larsen C Ice Shelf for three years had some factual statements to make which will have put global warming theorists into shock since they will not be able to blame mankind for this event.
He said “the growth in the fissure was not directly associated with climate change”.
He added: “This is a rift that is decades old, it is more than likely that we can put this down to a natural development of the rift.”
Scientists also said that the iceberg’s release, and eventual melting, will not raise sea levels directly.
So much for Al Gore’s predictions in his scaremongering film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.