Enthusiasm for Union symbol not flagging

Although it would pain columnist Joyce Mcmillan (Perspective, 26 March) to accept it, one of the reasons the Conservative party remains, after nearly 200 years, the dominant force in UK politics is its ability to adapt to changing political circumstances.

The current Conservative focus on Union flagwaving – what Ms Mcmillan characterises as "flag inflation" – might not be to everyone's taste, but can hardly be written off as a "category mistake" at a time when hard social and economic realities are ignored by vast swathes of the electorate in favour of identity issues.

It is sometimes necessary, in other words, to fight fire with fire. The SNP have over the last 20 years deliberately and aggressively sought to supplant the Union flag, which symbolises 300 years of international cooperation with the Saltire. Bute House was ungraciously Union flag-free when Theresa May visited and recently precedence has been given to the EU flag over the Union flag outside Holyrood – an act in these days of European vaccine nationalism surely unnecessarily insulting to the 50 per cent of the Scottish electorate still supportive of the Union. A little Union flag waving seems not unreasonable in these circumstances to encourage the unionist faithful and provide a clear brand identity for the elusive floating voter.

While flattering the social democratic strand within Scottish nationalism, Ms Mcmillan well knows, as does that other professed social democrat, Nicola Sturgeon, that without the "flag-wavers and face-painters" the SNP would still be in the political wilderness.

Finally Ms Mcmillan's almost forgotten hero, John Hume, might have observed "you can't eat a flag" but the most electorally successful British social democrat, and primary architect of the Northern Ireland peace process, one Tony Blair, knew the value of promoting a "Cool Britannia".

JOHN WOOD The Croft, St Boswells

Inaflap

Joyce Mcmillan makes some excellent points about the Tories’ obsession with the Union flag and their diktat that all public buildings should be displaying it prominently. It’s the action of a desperate government and is reminiscent of a mid-20th century dictatorship who require citizens to be making such gestures in a bid to wheedle out their opponents.

It’s also an indication of this Conservative government’s political naivety that they cannot understand that the Union flaghasbeencompletelydevalued over the years through its use by far right political parties, its adoption by England football fans as an English flag and even by its jingoistic waving at braying Tory party conferences to the strains of Land Of Hope And Glory. They are clearly attempting to adopt it as a symbol of a post-brexit UK without understanding that large parts of the UK did not buy into Brexit and did not buy into them.

The Union flag may have symbolised unity during the Second World War and even during the cultural explosion of the Sixties when Britannia really was cool, when we were looking outwards rather than inwards, but it's not a symbol of unity any longer.

Thanks to Boris and his warped and narrow-minded Brexit future, far from it.

D MITCHELL Coates Place, Edinburgh

Pole position

Joyce Mcmillan points out that “You cannot eat a flag.” It might be apt to remind her that, while this is, of course, true, many brave people have died for it and continue to do so. However, I guess her response would be “More fool them!”

MARK TENNANT Innes House, Elgin

Who’s the boss?

Mike Russell kindly shows how both he and his party are badly in need of a course in good manners. He claims that the government shows a “lack of respect” for the Scottish Parliament when it published a 52-page review “aimed at strengthening the Union and its capabilities”, having clearly had no time to read it (Scotsman Online, March 24). That is the kind of pre-judgement his party used to criticise the Holyrood committee that decided that his First Minister misled Holyrood. There’s nothing like a whiff of hypocrisy, is there?

The government – the British government – is the government of the whole United Kingdom. Its decisions relate to Scotland as much as to any other part of the UK. That is what we elected it for. The powers that the Scottish administration exercise stem directly from head office at Westminster and it is for the SNP at Holyrood, not Westminster, to show some respect. It is our national government at Westminster who are their bosses.

ANDREW HN GRAY Craiglea Drive, Edinburgh