Sir, – As Nicola Sturgeon’s love affair with the EU becomes more apparent, so does her seeming inability to understand what being part of a union entails.
This applies to the well-tested, tolerant and mutually beneficial one like our United Kingdom or the EU which is having more than its share of teething troubles.
Being in any union of nations must bring a certain loss of sovereignty, compromise and abiding by rules that don’t necessarily sit easily with one’s national aspirations.
Ms Sturgeon fails to understand that certain rules and regulations must apply across a whole union if it is to work at all.
The ability of anindependent Scotland to change EU rules would be limited.
Ms Sturgeon’s dilemma is not difficult to find. Her government has said that alcohol problems are so severe in Scotland that it has passed the minimum-pricing laws.
These have been accepted by Westminster.
However, the attempt to introduce a 50p per alcohol unit minimum charge has been challenged in the Court of Justice of the European Union.
If the court decides that the Scottish Government has no right to enact this legislation, then the ScottishGovernment must obey the ruling.
Clearly, an elected Scottish Government has limited sovereignty in Europe and similar cases will crop up in thefuture.
The less inebriated nations of Europe, of course, may have little sympathy for boozy Scots.
Their citizens may object to any attempt to increase the cost of their simple pleasures by allowing their governments to legally follow Scotland’s example.
Ms Sturgeon said: “In some areas, the EU should leave member states with the autonomy to tackle pressingproblems.”
That is exactly what David Cameron is trying to achieve and shouldn’t she be supporting him?
Or does Ms Sturgeon prefer Scotland to become firmly part of a European Union which gives us far less autonomy than we enjoy by being part of the United Kingdom?
Iain G Richmond. Guildy House, Monikie.
SNP in knots over Europe
Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon is already getting herself in a frightful pickle over the European Union, isn’t she?
She says she won’t campaign alongside David Cameron to help us stay in the EU.
Yet in her Brussels speech, it is apparent Tory and SNP attitudes to the EU are remarkably similar.
They are bothadamant EU interference must be reduced in matters perceived as entirely domestic.
In Ms Sturgeon’s case, she cites Europe blocking Scottish minimum alcohol pricing plans.
The First Minister appears almost as passionately determined to remain in the EU as she is to leave to the UK.
Yet more than 70% of Scotland’s trade is with the rest of the UK and growing massively faster than exports.
Ms Sturgeon contemplates a time when Scotland could be in the EU and the rest of the UK is not.
Every Higher business management student can tell Ms Sturgeon that you do not erect trade barriers between you and your largest, fastest-growing market.
Ms Sturgeon is tying herself up in knots over the EU and the referendum campaign has not even started.
SNP spin doctors, there’s work to do.
Martin Redfern. 4 Royal Circus, Edinburgh.
Conundrum for Sturgeon
Sir, – There is much political argument in favour of Scotland breaking away from the United Kingdom and wantingto become independent but, with the next breath, the SNP want to bepart of the European Union.
This suggests that the SNP does not want to be ruled by London but would be quite happy to be ruled by Germany.
All a bit confusing but I suppose there must be some logic behind their position.
John McDonald. 14 Rosebery Court, Kirkcaldy.
Scotland needs market access
Sir, – The CBI and Airbus have added their weight to growing calls for the UK’s continued membership of the EU.
It is vital that those, like the European Movement, who believe that our future lies in the EU, stand up and be counted.
Such a move must extend beyond the business community to include civic society and all those who see our future as part of the EU.
The EU is the largest single market in the world, with a population of 500 million and its economy is seventimes the size of the UK economy.
Indeed, just under half of Scotland’s international exports are destined for countries within the European Union and at least 330,000 Scottish jobs around one in seven are dependent on our membership of the European single market.
A report published by the CBI in late 2013 said the benefits of EUmembership were worth £3,000 for every UK household.
Scotland is more successful being part of a larger EU trading block, with the ability to directly influence the direction of travel, and as a home for inward investment, than outside the tent with a fraction of the ability to influence key economic decisions.
Derek Hammersley. European Movement in Scotland, 12b Cumberland Street, Edinburgh.
No danger from Faslane subs
Sir, – As a contractor, I have worked at Faslane on a few occasions and I watched Alex Salmond address Westminster about a misguided letter from a submariner who decided to go absent without leave .
First of all, the nuclear submarines that dock in Faslane are disarmed before they tie up for maintenance and so no one can knock the red button and send a missile skyward. There are no missiles to fire.
The disarmed submarines are less lethal than the dozens of fishing boats that sail in and out of the fishing ports inMr Salmond’s part of Scotland.
Secondly, Mr Salmond should stop labouring the point about the cost of Trident.
He appears to suggest the entire cost falls on the shoulders of Scots.
Scotland’s share would be based on a per capita ratio of about 8.3 % of the bill or less than 8.5p of every pound spent. And from that we see a lot of money going into pay packets in Scotland.
Faslane repairs empty, disarmed submarines. There is more danger from having a go on a fairground ride so why do these nationalists whip up hysteria when there is nothing to be concerned about?
Colin Cookson. Hatton Green, Stenton, Glenrothes.
Menace of modern cyclists
Sir, – If you owned a bike when I was a boy, the only accessories you needed were a pump, trouser clips and, of course, a puncture-repair kit.
Now every cyclist I see on the roads looks like they are all kitted up for the Tour de France, with their tight trousers and tops.
They seem to want it all.
They want the right of way on our roads and also our pavements.
They only obey the Highway Code when it suits them.
Now their latest moan is about the tram lines in Edinburgh and bikes getting their wheels stuck.
My uncle died due to an accident on the tram lines when he was only nine in Kirkcaldy on a bike, so accidents are nothing new.
The tram lines are fixed and they are dangerous to a bike, so the best way of avoiding an accident is to keep off them and dismount when forced to cross them, especially when wet. It only takesseconds.
The alternative isfor the council inEdinburgh to introduce no-go areas for cyclists who would have todismount and push their bikes until they passed the tram routes.
This would protect them from there own arrogance.
I use the road but Ipay road tax and have insurance.
John G Phimister. 63 St Clair Street, Kirkcaldy.
Lives being put at risk
Sir, – The potential massive cost to council tax payers of yet more pedal cyclists being injured by falling foul of Edinburgh’s tram lines can be avoided by but one of two measures.
They could scrap the trams and remove the rails that cause theproblem.
Or they could ban cyclists from all roads which have tram lines.
I am not sure which approach would bemost favoured by your readers but if it saves one child…
John Eoin Douglas. 7 Spey Terrace, Edinburgh.
The allure of power
Sir, – International bureaucracies tend to become the personal fiefdoms of theirpresidents who allow corruption to festerand show the brazen defiance of the now-departing Sepp Blatter when challenged.
The Fifa fiasco has been replicatedrepeatedly in organisations like the International OlympicCommittee, UNESCO and, of course, manyUN bodies such as the IPCC.
Until recently, the IPCC was run by a 74-year-old railwayengineer, Rajendra Pachauri, who dismissed as “voodoo science” an official report by India’s leading glaciologist.
It challenged a claim by Pachauri’s private institution that Himalayan glaciers would be gone by 2035, anabsurdity which the IPCC supported,allowing him access to European Union funds.
An inquiry by the world’s top scienceacademies foundserious shortcomings in the IPCC’s assessment and denouncedPachauri’s lack of transparency and conflicts of interest.
It suggested he be sacked and futurepresidents serve only one term but Pachauri ignored them andcarried on until finally sunk by a charge ofserious sexual harassment.
Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.