Lincoln fought a civil war to preserve his Union

SIR – D A Glass (Letters, May 5) compares Scotland to South Carolina and asks what would happen if this state were to break away from the United States. We already know the answer. In December 1860, against the constitution, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, and a bloody civil war followed.

The Acts of Union of 1707 said that “the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall forever after, be united into one Kingdom by the Name of Great-britain”, and that “the united Kingdom of Great-britain be represented by one and the same Parliament” – although that ended with the Scotland Act of 1998.

I am not advocating civil war, but if Tony Blair had shown Abraham Lincoln’s determination to preserve his Union, we would not now be seeing the dismemberment of ours. Nicholas Young

London W13

SIR – Ben Riley-smith (report, May 1) suggests that Boris Johnson is prepared to take the SNP to the

Supreme Court to stop a unilateral second referendum, but this would be a stopgap. There has to be some finality over this issue.

I believe the Government should agree to a new referendum, but on revised terms. First, a higher threshold must be met before change can take place. In 2014, only 44.7 per cent were in favour of independence. Countries with written constitutions typically require a two-thirds majority before it can be amended.

Secondly, no further referendum should be allowed to take place for a set time. If the SNP had stuck to its commitment in 2014 not to revisit the issue for a generation, much angst and division could have been avoided.

These arguments apply to any referendum on a constitutional question. Had a two-thirds majority been required in the Brexit vote then Britain would still be part of the EU, a result that might have been more easily accepted within the UK, including in Scotland.

Stephen Parkinson London EC1