Do ‘sleekit’ Conservatives have hidden agenda behind plan to erase Angus?

Sir, – I read with horror the proposal by the Boundary Commission Scotland (BCS) to redraw constituencies in Scotland which included Angus, where I live.

This is simply the daftest boundary change anyone could imagine but, more importantly, the demise or alteration of historical names.

Scotland has two boundary commissions. One is Boundaries Scotland, an independent body paid for by the Scottish Government and responsible for determining Scottish Parliament constituencies, regions, councillors and wards within local government.

The other is the Boundary Commission for Scotland (BCS) which reviews UK Parliament so is a creature of Westminster.

The chair is the speaker at the House of Commons but in effect the work is done by a High Court judge, Lord Matthews, assisted by Professors Ailsa Henderson and Sue Walker who make up the commission.

Both bodies have experts from mapping to geography but there is not one professional historian on either. This is one reason why the BCS has come out with plans which defy the history of important communities, such as in Angus.

The Western Isles, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are protected by law so cannot be changed but the numbers games is why the BCS is allegedly shoe-horning communities together.

I could go on a rant but two stick out as being antiscottish and very much anti-history.

Dismembering Angus with the name erased from Parliament is historically illiterate and to be frank is a real insult for this ancient county.

The plan to create two seats of North Tayside and Dundee East defies logic and a blow to the people of Angus to promote tourism which recognises its place in Scottish history.

Angus was named after an ancient king of the Picts and has been a recognised province since the 10th Century.

Scotland’s Declaration of Independence was sent in 1320 from Arbroath Abbey to Pope John XXII.

We were once known as

Forfarshire which is still the seat of local government.

The BCS has clearly failed to abide by their own criteria of respecting established natural and community boundaries.

These commission members were appointed by the Scottish Secretary Alistair Jack, a staunch unionist, which makes one wonder and suspect something fishy here as this area is a staunch hotbed of nationalism as well as the famous smokie.

I also beg to ask why Boundaries Scotland has not been involved?

The Tories have form for being sleekit so I suspect their hands have been at the tiller here.

The other area is Moray which played a huge role in the Wars of Independence when Sir Andrew Moray or Murray joined Sir William Wallace to win the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

For the sake of Scotland’s history, Angus and Moray should be retained in their present form and ancient names retained.