Flawed argument

Victor Clements (Letters, March 16) says, “we need a means whereby people in Scotland can appeal to government at a UK level to deal with problems in which the government itself may be implicated".

Note, not the people or particular groups or organisations of people, but just any old person can take complaints to the UK government. I'm sure that government would be delighted to hear that, but are they the paragons of governmental integrity and efficiency best suited for the task? This is the government which illegally prorogued parliament. The government which threatened to break international law and has recently done just that. The government which has been found to have been in breach of the law with regard to the issue of contracts and of having misled parliament on their procurement. The government which gave contracts worth millions of pounds to Conservative party donors. The government with a Home Secretary who has been found guilty of bullying. The government which spent £37 billion on test and trace contracts which work out at a cost of £40,000 per person traced and tested when Ireland has a more efficient system which cost around £770,000.

Mr Clements says we need this system if we “want to salvage our self-esteem and pride”. It doesn't take a genius to work out that adopting such a proposal would be the very antithesis of the statement. Personally I'd like to see it proposed by the Westminster government. I can imagine no better recruiting sergeant for the independence movement.

GILL TURNER Derby Street, Edinburgh