Not so normal

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The latest “in” phrase, presumably supplied by the SNP’S heavily manned – and paid for by all taxpayers – spin department, is: ‘‘It’s normal”. It is usually made in reference to breaking off Scotland from the rest of the UK and I have heard several of their leading propagandists trot it out whenever what they see as a suitable occasion arises. The dreary, old and completely inappropriate comparisons with small European nations are laid out again and again.

What is never mentioned are the other European and Asian countries that were once separate entities, as was Scotland, and who decided to gain strength and better the lot of their people by joining with other close entities sharing much the same culture and thus providing strength and solidarity for the weakest when facing common human problems. A good example would be Bavaria, now happily part of Germany, or the former separate Italian states, which got together as a unit and formed present-day Italy. The list of these successes is endless.

These examples are perhaps infinitely more “normal” than breaking up a centuries’ old union of countries occupying a small island. Only in Scotland has there remained rancour and longing by a deluded minority for the fabled and wonderful old days, which in truth never existed. These people prefer dreams of Brigadoon and Braveheart, ignoring the reality of circumstances in the modern world. ALEXANDER MCKAY

Edinburgh