Challenge to FM
I refer to your various articles yesterday regarding Nicola Sturgeon mentioning Scottish independence more than ten times in her speech, however, only referring to education twice.
It has, embarrassingly, become nothing less than a personal crusade for her to convince the Scottish people to yet again, after only a few years of being defeated in the referendum vote, to suggest a movement to table this again. This also brings into question the matter of democracy and whether it’s worth voting at all.
The First Minister will argue that the goal posts have changed considering the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, however, I would like to see her stand up and give an honest and simple explanation of how Scotland could financially sustain itself as a standalone country, and also what arguments she has for the European Union accepting Scotland as a member?
Ms Sturgeon, in plain English to allow every voter to understand, please can you attach numbers to each of the areas of income matched with expenditure, similar to that of ordinary working class families working out how to balance the high cost of living in Scotland compared with the family income.
Voting for independence is romantic as the pictures of William Wallace depict, however, it will have significant damaging effects long after you leave office and this life, on the future working generations of Scots.
Forget the smoke and mirrors, Nicola, please just accept that it is not financially viable unless we increase income tax significantly.
NEILL COOPER Merlin Drive, Dunfermline It is duplicitous in the extreme for Labour and the Lib Dems to call for another EU referendum after only three years when they don’t hold an electoral mandate for this, yet continue to oppose Indyref2 when such a mandate exists.
Robert Scott forgets that the SNP has a triple lock mandate for another referendum on independence (Letters, 17 October). It was elected on the basis of such an event should Scotland be taken out of the EU against our collective will in 2016 and this stance was backed by the Scottish Parliament, then at a subsequent general election in 2017, by gaining an absolute majority of seats at Westminster.
The London-based Institute of Government said the UK should accept that Scotland should have the right to become independent if Scots vote for parties which support a fresh plebiscite. It added that it would be unsustainable for a new vote to be denied.
There is no correlation whatsoever between the length of time a union has existed and the ease or difficulty of ending it.
FRASER GRANT Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh