Sir, – Boris Johnson’s determination to put hard Brexit back on the table is a turning point for Scottish independence.
Polls have consistently shown that a no-deal hard Brexit will push support for independence to 60%.
It took Canada seven years to complete its deal with the European Union.
So Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s determination to do it in just one year is simply deranged.
It’s another example of the fact-phobic, reality denying delusions on Brexit which pervade the Tory regime.
The cost of a no-deal Brexit to the UK economy could be £27 billion per year.
In this scenario there could be food and medicine shortages and troops deployed on our streets.
The European Union accounts for 45% of UK exports.
The commensurate figure for the US is 15%.
This reality severely limits the options of Mr Johnson to deliver anything.
Conservatives like to repeat the mantra of “respect the result”.
Since the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence there have been three general elections and an EU referendum. In them Scotland has voted SNP, SNP, SNP and Remain.
What we got was Tory Government, a Tory Government, a Tory Government and then a hard Brexit.
That will be the bleak outcome that will continue unless Scotland becomes independent and soon.
Alan Hinnrichs.
2 Gillespie Terrace,
Dundee.
Bellamy was unfairly treated
Sir, – The recent death of Professor David Bellamy gives further cause for troubling reflection on the power of the media.
For many years he enraptured BBC audiences with his unique brand of unbridled enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowlege of the natural world.
The BBC Charter claims to “provide important views and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.”
It also aspires to “champion freedom of expression – and to participate in the democratic process at all levels.”
Unfortunately for Professor Bellamy this once commendable code of practice took on a sinister tone when he challenged the political and scientific establishment on the perception that human induced climate change was being attributed primarily to increased carbon dioxide emissions. True to the ethos of science he declared that, “when facts change I change my mind” and, in his inimitable style, he dismissed mainstream opinion as “poppycock.” His voice was quickly silenced because he was no longer politically correct.
A newspaper headline from 1931 declared “A Hundred Scientists against Einstein” to which he replied: “If I were wrong, one would have been enough.”
Another of his pithy statements said: “We still do not know one thousandth of 1% of what nature has to reveal to us.”
With views like those he might well have lent his weight to the argument that our climate is in large part a chaotic, multi-faceted combination of natural forces.
Neil J Bryce.
Gateshaw Cottage,
Morebattle, Kale Valley, Kelso.
Political system is distorted
Sir, – As a committed unionist let me reassure Calum Duncan (Silence on electoral reform, Courier, December 17) and others, that I consider the Conservatives’ 44% of the British vote no more a mandate for change than the SNP’s 45% of the Scottish vote.
Our distorted political system has allowed Johnson and Sturgeon to claim mandates they do not have.
Honesty and humility is what these leaders should offer us, but what we get from both is a distortion of the truth and undisguised arrogance.
No matter who you voted for on December 12, under the first-past-the-post system we are all losers.
Michael Foreman.
Balhomie House,
Cargill.
Joining Titanic after the iceberg
Sir, – If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union by the end of January, then the UK not paying this £350 million a week means that all other countries would then have to pay almost £13m each.
I can see France and Germany following the UK’s lead.
So if Nicola gets her independence vote and Scotland leaves the UK, in say five years’ time, with the break up of the European Union would she really want to take Scotland back into Europe?
Is this not like joining the Titanic after it hit the iceberg?
David Dewar.
42 Prior Road,
Forfar.
Referendum not part of day job
Sir, – Another day and another economist saying “an independent Scotland is not economically viable”.
How often does the SNP need to be told this before it stops pretending that a separate Scotland could function at the high standard of living that we have now?
Ms Sturgeon complains about Scotland being imprisoned in the UK.
Some of us feel imprisoned in a stagnant Scotland with a “government” campaigning perpetually instead of governing.
The “day job” is not campaigning for a referendum.
It is governing competently in the devolved areas.
Jill Stephenson.
Glenlockhart Valley,
Edinburgh.
Ticketing decision wrong
Sir, – I read the article where a man abandoned his car on yellow lines to assist his son with an epileptic seizure in Dundee, only to be hit with a £60 parking fine which was not rescinded after review.
What a stupid decision!
My wife had an incident on the M90 some time ago with our son, who was having a full seizure. She could not turn off but got up on the kerb and within two minutes an unmarked police car stopped.
She was offered every assistance, with the police making the lane safe until the seizure passed.
They then followed her over the bridge and ensured she was OK to continue.
That is what is called good public service and going the extra mile,not issuing a ticket for parking in the wrong place in the time of an emergency.
George Sangster.
Woodlands,
Logie, Montrose.
Ban vaping and boast about it
Sir, – Yet another report that says vaping could raise the risk of serious lung disease by almost a third.
Professor Stanton Glantz of the University of California, who led the three-year study, said people were more likely to suffer from conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma.
People have to breathe in these noxious fumes from e-cigarettes and cigarettes as they walk in the streets.
In Scotland one cannot drink alcohol in the street so what about banning e-cigarettes, real cigarettes and pipes?
Then politicians can boast “Scotland leads the world in banning e-cigarette and tobacco on our streets. Others will surely follow”.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
