The truth about Scotland’s position in 2020

Sir, – Martin Redfern (Definition of democracy, Letters, January 14) has finally lost it!

He complains that “The UK Government has for the last 13 years not only accepted in government the SNP, whose raison d’etre is breaking up the UK, but has funded it.” Where do I start?

It is not up to the UK Government to accept or reject the party of government chosen by the Scottish people for the Scottish Parliament.

As for the funding, is Mr Redfern not aware that people in Scotland also pay taxes which help to fund the Westminster establishment, and their imperial delusions, at a massively greater cost than Holyrood?

Mr Redfern then adds insult to injury by complaining that Scotland was “allowed” to have a referendum in 2014.

The 2014 referendum was granted willingly by the UK Government, to put us in our place, on their assumption that there was “no demand for independence in Scotland”, much as we hear now, and what a shock they got.

He then suggests that the elected Scottish Parliament has no democratic mandate to govern, which is clearly absurd.

He ignores the fact that our new prime minister was appointed by a small cabal of elderly rich people living in the south of England, and he, and his government, were vehemently rejected by Scotland in the recent general election.

Next he complains that the Scottish Government ignores the result of the 2014 referendum: this is untrue.

They, and the people of Scotland, accepted, reluctantly perhaps, the 2014 result, on the basis presented, that we would have the most powerful devolved parliament in the world.

But what we now have is a different beast altogether.

A hard right English nationalist cabal, which considers Scotland, if at all, with contempt, led by a charlatan, backed by the power of questionable money, which has chosen to deliberately ruin the country by separating us from the world’s biggest trading market, our friends and neighbours in Europe, and leaving us at the mercy of Trump’s rapacious regime, all of this against the clearly expressed will of the Scottish people.

On reflection, maybe Mr Redfern hasn’t lost the plot: maybe he’s just doing the bidding of his Scotland in Union masters, and preparing the way for the coming attack on our Scottish Parliament by the new Westminster Government, keen to neutralise all opposition to their devious plans.

Les Mackay. 5 Carmichael Gardens, Dundee.