Kaiser, chiefly

SNP followers and their representatives in Westminster or Holyrood to how we would cope with the highly probable outcomes of independence: no Barnett Formula to bolster Scotland’s economic deficiency; higher tax levels than in the rest of the UK; reduced council services; a lower standard of living for the majority of people.

Any claims by the SNP that things would be better if Scotland was to become independent are pure humbug! ROBERT IG SCOTT Northfield, Ceres, Fife

master Cummings, on the other hand, have nothing but contempt for the electorate of the UK and demonstrate this clearly in their appearance. The difference in approach is very clear beyond the UK, as my many European friends keep telling me.

IAN SUTHERLAND Alnwickhill Road, Liberton

I sympathise with the ethic of national unity, so tend to withdraw from letter-writing. But the problem is that when many voters accepted lying politicians as their leaders, skill with lies obscured the truth of what needs to be done.

We are not quite in as much of a mess as Trump’s USA, but we need to recognise that our leading Leave politicians were great admirers of Trump – and like him, like to finesse truth in the interest of activating their base voters.

But the skill of working up anger just leads to cold and fanatical behaviour – obscured by the clever propaganda skills which makes these politicians seem to be all things to all men.

Kaiser Wilhelm II took this approach, with his good welfare policies and reassuring letters to his Russian cousin. People in Europe believed that he would avoid war in 1914 because of his concern for its effect on German industry and people.

He didn’t avoid war because his concern for his people was not real, his fanaticism too great, his capacity for anger too uninhibited.

People believed until recently that Boris Johnson would get a deal with the EU or otherwise have good preparations for leaving.

Now that we have seen how badly this government has dealt with both the pandemic and its likely economic repercussions, can we really expect them to do any better with the chaos of leaving the EU?

Until voters insist on truthfulness as an essential quality for our politicians, the industrial vandalism will go on.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh