Sir, Isn’t it incredible that some 16 weeks away from a referendum which could impact on our futures, and that of our children, that the SNP Government is unable to provide the people of Scotland with an actual figure of costs for setting up a new state.
Equally, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have yet to determine what currency will be used. It would seem, therefore, that we are expected to join together in a leap into a pit of uncertainty without awareness of the outcome.
Remember, politicians come and go and in the event of a disaster the intrepid pair, along with their front bench colleagues, could simply slip away with handsome pensions and be forgotten as the architects of this disaster.
As an analogy it is akin to investing in a bank without knowing what rate of interest and conditions would be imposed. How many of us would do that? How any rational thinker and voter could feel secure in facing such an abyss is beyond belief.
I now see in a letter sent out by the SNP that we might help their cause by buying and selling raffle tickets. Is that how we might raise funds in the future?
Look again at what happened to Ireland and Iceland of late, states which at one time were held in high esteem by the SNP and interestingly now never mentioned, countries burdened with high unemployment, heavily reduced benefits and massive debts and house repossessions, with young people leaving in droves to secure employment.
Is this what might be our destiny in an independent Scotland? I shudder at the thought.
David L Thomson. 24 Laurence Park, Kinglassie.
Wales a much more realistic comparison
Sir, Independence supporters like to compare Scotland with Norway to highlight how Scotland’s prospects might improve after independence.
Perhaps a more realistic comparison is with Wales, a country which used to rely on well-paid jobs in the coal and steel industries for much of its wealth, but where low-paid service sector jobs now predominate.
Economic output per head in Wales has been in steady decline for decades. As of 2011, Gross Value Added (per capita) for Wales was £15,696 compared to £20,571 for Scotland (not including oil and gas revenues).
As part of the UK, what will happen to Scotland’s economy when the Barnett Formula is scrapped and the oil runs out?
The Welsh persistently vote Labour and hope for the best, but what should Scotland do?
Andrew Masson. St Anne’s, Monorgan, Longforgan.
Already have enough
Sir, I read with some alarm your article on proposals to redistribute elected councillors among Scotland’s 32 local authority areas.
We are already overburdened by politicians, with some councillors merely filling a space created by the voting system.
Local authority elections regularly throw up councillors who have not been able to take office until the eighth and sometimes the ninth round of vote counting. In one ward here in Fife at the last local council election it took until the fifth and then the eighth rounds of voting before any candidates could take office.
Hopefully it is not too late to refer the Local Government Boundary Commission to Professor Kerley’s report of June 2000, which recommended that the optimum size of a council should be not more than 53 elected members.
John McNab. 11 Balgeddie Court, Glenrothes.
Here’s another spin to it . . .
Sir, Jenny Hjul spins the fact that Scotland now has a Ukip MEP to lambast Alex Salmond and the SNP but then she would, wouldn’t she.
Let me spin it another way. How many English people have migrated from the south to Scotland in recent years? Would that account for Ukip getting the necessary 10%? Both “spins” are probably rubbish, but rubbish is what we are getting from the “No” campaign.
The truth about Scotland’s oil has been kept from the people of Scotland by successive Westminster governments of both political hues and that’s one fact she cannot spin.
However, the Farage factor adds a new dimension to the 2015 general election. Neither Tory nor Labour appear to have a commanding lead, so how about this scenario.
Both the main parties are roughly equal, the Liberal vote collapses as thoroughly as it did in the Euro elections and Ukip pick up 10 – 12 seats in England. Clearly a new coalition will have to be formed and the only plausible one is a Tory/Ukip one. Nigel Farage for deputy PM anyone?
And you still don’t know which way to vote in the Scottish referendum? It’s a no brainer.
Jim Robertson. 194 High Street, Montrose.