Is First Minister bluffing when she says she’s not bluffing on new referendum?

I note Nicola Sturgeon is yet again attempting to emphasise to the UK Government that her “referendum threat is not a bluff ”, and a hard Brexit will trigger another independence vote. I am trying to refrain from yawning.

Voters should by now be getting used to Sturgeon’s outbursts. Also, it could be said that she has to keep her spin doctors busy – all 45 of them. Members of the public might be quite interested to learn that the cost to the taxpayers of employing this prolific, imagebuilding group is in the region of £5 million per annum

It is more likely that members of the electorate are concerned with the inadequacies of the SNP administration; especially the major problems in all key areas such as the Scottish economy with a deficit of £15 billion equating to 9.5 per cent of GDP, an ailing Health Service, underfunded local authorities, despondency in Police Scotland, underattainment in Education, etc.

In any case, as most of us are fully aware, the First Minister cannot simply call another referendum on the question of Scotland becoming independent of the UK. There are procedures to be implemented under the Scotland Acts, including consultation with the UK Government. Also, as reported recently in the press, the support for independence is now less than the 43 per cent level achieved by Salmond in 2014. ROBERT I G SCOTT

Northfield, Ceres The 2014 Referendum was a “once in a generation” event, which now seems to translate into every three years. Yesterday it was announced that the “longterm” Scottish Improvement Partnership Programme, whose funding has been withdrawn despite favourable reviews, was actually a three year project. It would seem that photo opportunities are forcing strategic SNP policy to be continually reviewed for political advantage, and not for the advantage of the country and its people. This is not good government.

KEN CURRIE Liberton Drive, Edinburgh On Sunday’s Andrew Marr show, Nicola Sturgeon warns Theresa May she is not bluffing over her threat to seek a second independence referendum if she does not get her way on Brexit. In the same interview, she claims her options for Brexit are “sensible, compromise, consensus proposals”. Across the range of potential Brexits, from a “hard” outcome involving leaving the EU without care for future trade, through to seeking to effectively overturn the June 2016 referendum result with the softest of soft Brexits, where are the First Minister’s proposals positioned? Are they, as she implies, some kind of middle way? No. Rather, as is often the way with the SNP, their “compromise” is simply getting what they want, which in this case means full membership of the single market, at the opposite end of the spectrum from hard Brexit.

The eventual UK deal with the EU will undoubtedly require some degree of compromise across immigration, financial contributions and lawmaking, in order to retain sensible access to the single market. But as the First Minister is aware, full membership of the single market is not realistically something the UK or the EU can agree to. She has not proposed it in a spirit of compromise, but rather as grounds for grievance. No one can be sure whether Nicola Sturgeon will eventually call for a second referendum but one thing is absolutely clear, she is determined to maintain Brexit as a potential trigger for one until she has decided one way or the other.

KEITH HOWELL West Linton, Peeblesshire Is Nicola Sturgeon bluffing? If you have to say to someone that you are not bluffing about something, the likelihood is that you are. Can anyone recall Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry saying that he was not bluffing before he drew his guns and shot people? VICTOR CLEMENTS

Taybridge Terrace Aberfeldy, Perthshire Nicola Sturgeon has said that if Theresa May’s Conservative government pushes through a hard Brexit, she will move forward with another independence referendum, because the direction Scotland takes might otherwise be determined by a right wing Tory government for the next 20 years.

In the past, the SNP have not been as concerned about being governed by the Tories as they seem to be now, with another independence referendum at stake.those of us of more advanced age still remember the events of march 1979. A minority Labour government, only just surviving, with the help of other parties, was brought down by the SNP withdrawing their support, ushering in 18 years of right wing Tory rule. The SNP MPS acted like turkeys voting for Christmas. And the SNP were rightly stuffed in the general election which followed, losing 9 of their 11 seats. Once again, the SNP are looking for an excuse, but the support for independence is still not there.

PHIL TATE Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh