Strong case for independence

SIR, – Mr Keith Fernie is mistaken: the SNP is not going to collapse, but the UK is. Has he actually looked at the situation that has developed since the EU referendum: a government in total disarray under an unelected prime minister (the opposition was in total disarray already), a currency in free fall, and the elevation of xenophobia. Is this what Mr Fernie actually wants for Scotland?

The case for independence has never been stronger or more obvious. Sure, the independence cause was narrowly defeated in 2014; but circumstances have changed radically since then: most notably, a major reason many people found for voting against independence was that by remaining in the UK we would safeguard our membership of the EU, whereas now it is by remaining in the UK that we will be dragged out of it against our wishes.

The Brexit vote was indeed a gift to Nicola Sturgeon. May I suggest to Mr Fernie that it is the mark of a capable political leader to turn a changed situation to his or her party’s advantage; and that the SNP’s whole raison d’etre is to recover Scottish independence, a fact perfectly wellknown to all the voters who supported them – a number comparable to those who supported all the other parties in Scotland put together. There will be another independence referendum, and this time we will win.

Derrick McClure, Rosehill Terrace, Aberdeen.

“Why can't these so called patriots wake up and smell the coffee? It's not rocket science. If they don't like the way things are going here in north Britain, the choice is simple: move south of the border