Your views online
Grace period
In a joint letter, leading Scottish food and drink producers warned the Prime Minister of the “catastrophic damage” a no-deal Brexit would cause to their industry.
“I suspect there will be trailers and containers full of rotting fish, animal carcasses and frozen foods/ chilled and perishables not just from Scotland but all devolved nations and Ireland.
“Just sitting around channel ports’ roads and car parks, anywhere and everywhere waiting for Gove to do something with no health certificates nor anywhere to dump the loads. Brexit!”
Jo Macdiarmid, heraldscotland.com
“A letter from Scotland, Mr Johnson. File them with the others. You mean under B for Bin…? There’s a good chap.”
S Hunter, heraldscotland.com
“Is this so they can continue to employ and underpay foreign staff? Bit like the berry barons. Why do they need special favours when no other sector does? Don’t tell me the Scottish administration has put them up to this.
“Why don’t they employ local people and pay them? – we’re meant to have a hospitality ‘academy’ opening in Edinburgh in the new St James Centre.”
Sally Roberts, heraldscotland.com
Furlough extension
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the full furlough scheme is to be extended until the end of March, after repeated calls for “urgent clarity” from the Scottish Government.
“This is good news. What’s needed – not special cases for England or devolved nations, but a clear and unambiguous commitment across the UK.”
Gordon Smith, heraldscotland.com
“Hey you lot trivialising this, including making it an independence issue – have a thought for all those people who have lost their job and businesses going bust due to prevarication.”
Bob Murison, heraldscotland.com
“Why does Scotland need to furlough at all? Numbers are tiny. We have twice the number of weekly cancer deaths as Covid in any normal period.”
Sally Roberts, heraldscotland.com
Union Jacks
Scots confectionary firm Mackie’s has defended packaging chocolate with Union Jacks instead of Saltires after coming under fire in a new branding row.
“The Union Jack is an international asset. It literally helps Scottish goods be sold abroad, because the UK is actually pretty popular for most people around the world. They don’t need to have a flag on their packaging of course, but it helps them when they do, if they have a union flag on it, with the Saltire proudly forming part of it.”
Alex Taylor, heraldscotland.com
“What a load of nonsense! If people want to boycott the best ice-cream on the market because of the flag on a packet of chocolate they are cutting off their noses to spite their face, especially as ‘Scotland’ is there in large letters. Get a life!”
Barbara Jarvie, heraldscotland.com
“Isn’t this the toffee every wee boy in Scotland was familiar with at one time? Things move on it seems and external influences are taken over by a company which was once owned and run by Scottish people and the attachment disappears. Tunnock’s have labels for every bit of the world it exports its products to, so there is no excuse for Mackie’s not to do the same.”
J Williamson, heraldscotland.com
“I like many people associate the Union Jack with Brexit. How can such an association work in Scotland’s favour?”
Jo Macdiarmid, heraldscotland.com
“The Union Jack is an absolutely integral part of Scotland’s success in exporting.
“It’s a badge of honour, and a proud symbol of our Union working together.”
Alex Taylor, heraldscotland.com