Blessed relief

Many will empathise with your correspondent Jane Lax’ s re collection of feeling sheer relief (rather than gloating triumphalism) when Alex Salmond unexpectedly lost his Once in a Generation bid to dismantle the UK( Letters ,21 September ). Numerous friends and acquaintances have confided that they planned to leave the country had the 2014 vote gone the other way, taking their skills, money and contribution to Scotland with them.

The sub text of nationalist narrative has been a pro-fessed desire to “right old wrongs” (ie settle old scores) post-independence. The punitive impact of such dogma on those perceived to have benefited from the Union would inevitably trigger a mass exodus of irreplacable talent and capital; but who could blame them?

Why remain in a state run by those welded to notions of a dependency and entitlement culture, rather than one promoting enterprise, opportunity and the work ethic?

MARTIN O’GORMAN Littlejohn Road, edinburgh