Futile marches

So another independence parade has taken place, this time in Inverness. A few thousand dyed-in-the-wool separatists marched, waving Saltires. They attracted extensive media coverage while the remaining five million-plus Scots carry on as usual.

Opinion polls repeatedly show support for independence remains around 2014 levels – most made up their minds during the intense campaign running up to the referendum and haven’t changed sides since. If another referendum were ever to take place, enthusiasts on both sides would campaign passionately, but it would entirely be a battle for the hearts and minds of

maybe 300,000 waverers – soft Yes and No voters. The rest of us won’t matter much.

Blood and soil separatists may nod approvingly as independence-obsessed marchers cross their TV screens. Yet Nicola Sturgeon and her spindoctor

team will realise these kind of demonstrations do little to influence the chances of Indyref2 taking place, nor enhance the likelihood of a result in her favour.

MARTIN REDFERN Woodcroft Road, Edinburgh

It is no surprise that SNP MP Ian Blackford rushed out a response to what proved to be a fake tweet (‘All true democrats must fight fake news’, 28 July).

The SNP group that he leads at Westminster have made a name for themselves as the angry party, determined to respond with mock outrage to any and all issues that they can somehow twist into an imagined or exaggerated cause for grievance.

The SNP have, of course, developed something of an art form out of creating caricatures of their opponents by putting stupid words into their mouths and complaining about them rather than what they have actually said.

The leading example continues to be the regular repetition of the “too wee, too poor, too stupid” insult, words never uttered by anyone among those who value Scotland’s place in the UK.

KEITH HOWELL West Linton, Peeblesshire