Breeding resentment

Sir, – Credit to Iain Stewart for highlighting the fact that Scots have indeed made Britain great but without necessarily being appreciated for so doing.

In any walk of life lack of appreciation eventually leads to dissolution and the birth of political opposition, which usually invites opposition and condemnation from those who feel comfortable with the status quo.

The advent of the SNP as a political movement resulted not from the rising tide of Scottish rebels but from the attitude of the establishment at Westminster using the Uk-wide advantage it had in terms of voting numbers to give it the green light to ignore these “rebels without a cause” as they were seen to be.

The Irish were quick to realise that peaceful protest, unlike violent action which was rightly condemned as a form of protest by the government of the day, was always regarded as something which could safely be ignored.

Thus the IRA turned to desperate forms of protest which could probably have been avoided if meaningful negotiations had taken place to restore the Irish island to its original state before it was divided by force to create another enclave of British colonisation of someone else’s country.

His claim that the SNP has turned Scotland’s feeling of pride into resentment is risible to say the least and, speaking as someone who has also seen other parts of the world, he can be assured that his perception of Britain’s standing in other countries of the globe is at best fanciful.

Allan A Macdougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.