Believe me, Nicola, the UK is worth fighting for
When I served at hMS Fulmar in 1970 — which was the name we gave the Royal navy Air Station at Lossiemouth in Scotland at the time — I had a staff of mainly Scottish people, both service personnel and local civilians. It was one of the happiest times of the nearly 30 years I spent in the Royal navy. In fact, due to my long association with boxing — as a former Rn representative boxer and having successfully coached teams on board the fleet’s largest ships (aircraft carriers hMS Ark Royal and hermes) — I again volunteered my talents and was asked to be in the Scotland corner when my Scottish sailor pugilists fought in the team against england. As an englishman — a Sassenach — I was delighted when the manager of the Scottish boxing team insisted I became part of the national team and take over the corner when my Scottish sailor fought for his country. I tried — very unsuccessfully — to fake a Scottish accent in the dressing room and became a source of great fun to the Scottish boxers, who jokingly enquired: ‘What part of Scotland do you come from with that weird accent, man?’ Fortunately, my charge saved me when he found I was deliberately being asked questions so that they could all have a good laugh. Thank God Scotland is part of the UK. From my experience, many of our best sailors were Scots and true mates. nicola Sturgeon may be leader of the Scottish national Party, but I am sure she realises that one of Scotland’s biggest and best exports has always been Scots — many of whom live south of the border and are as much a part of the United Kingdom as those living north of it. Incidentally, population-wise, there are well over three million more people living in Greater London than in the whole of Scotland. We all occasionally want to be different, but together we are the United Kingdom and together we make up one of the greatest nations on God’s earth — nicola, you’d better believe it. Ken Miller, lieutenant,
royal navy, Derby.