See oorsels as ithers see us

While on a short trip to Mexico, it’s been impossible not to be continually on the back-foot about my British nationality with non-British friends and colleagues.

Even in this functional but slightly chaotic distant country, ordinary folks are well educated and have noticed the UK’s declining prestige since 2016 and are also aware of its most recent fiascos – including an economy mired in recession, 20 per cent of its population reported as living below the official poverty line, a once mighty Royal Navy unable to put its flagship aircraft carrier into operation or to successfully test-launch a Trident nuclear missile from one of its hugely expensive submarines (you can almost hear Putin sniggering), and then just this week, chaos at Westminster and a meaningless Labour Party resolution on Gaza (you can almost hear Netanyahu sniggering).

Perhaps less obvious to the international community is also the abrupt put-down by the Canadian Government, of Kemi Badenoch’s misleading claims about a successful post-Brexit trade deal. Like most of her Conservative colleagues, Ms Badenoch appears to inhabit a different reality from everyone else.

It’s hard not to conclude that, from abroad, the

UK is perceived as an embarrassing entity – selfobsessed, irrelevant and entirely lacking in any generosity or self-awareness. So it seems that Robert Burns was right when he said “O would some power the giftie gie us, to see oorsels as ithers see us”. Scots beware; whether we like it or not we are currently part of this dismal UK enterprise and would be well-advised to consider our position, to protect our economy and international reputation!

D. Jamieson, Dunbar

The Scottish Government is committing £500,000 from its limited budget into ensuring a just transition and skills from fossil fuels