No, no, Nicola

Who is Nicola Sturgeon purporting to speak for in her latest challenge to the UK Government when she states that the people of Scotland wish to remain in the EU ?

1,661,191 voters in Scotland may have indicated their wish that the UK should remain a member of the EU, but that only represents 41 per cent of the total electorate in Scotland. It may well have been that there was considerable apathy amongst the voting public in Scotland about this whole matter. There can be no doubt that Sturgeon’s own followers would have been under instruction to toe the party line.

What is more important to the Scottish electorate as a whole is that Sturgeon is apparently ignoring the overwhelming majority of Scots voters who cast their votes in the 2014 Referendum. She would dearly like to forget that 2,001,050 (55.7 per cent) of us voted to stay in the UK. That verdict by the people did not, of course, suit her purpose. How dare she now try to undermine the view expressed by this majority of Scots to remain part of the UK? She does not even have a working majority at Holyrood, and now has to rely on the Green Party to get any Bills passed.

The last thing Scotland needs is yet another independence referendum. The economics of such a drastic step simply do not add up: the North Sea oil industry is in decline; Scotland’s economy is in deficit to the tune of £15 billion at the present time – almost 10 per cent of GDP; Scotland currently “exports” 72 per cent of its goods and services to RUK

The Constitution is a reserved matter for the UK Parliament so holding a referendum concerning any matters relating to the Constitution is outwith the legislative power of the Scottish Parliament. Surely the time has come for the Scottish electorate to renounce the narrow policies of the SNP, and come to terms with the need for the UK to make its own decisions in today’s world. ROBERT I G SCOTT Northfield, Ceres, Fife

A national newspaper has recently published the lineups of the Brexit teams, the UK managed by Theresa May and the EU managed by Angela Merkel. The EU team looks formidable with all of its players steeped in key parts of the EU for many years, a highly professional outfit.

By comparison the UK team looks weak and amateurish. The manager herself has little experience of the EU and of international negotiation. A couple of senior civil servants and the Bank of England governor clearly add some strength, but even their direct EU experience is limited. Ruth Davidson, a former outspoken Remainer, now toeing the hard Brexit party line, will be of limited help. Amateurs, however gifted, will not succeed at this negotiating table.

That should be a cause of concern to us all, whether we voted Leave or Remain. The EU hold all the cards, they know the UK only has two years to make a deal. It is foolish in the extreme for the Conservatives to rule out staying in the single market. It is true that David slew Goliath, but that is highly unlikely to be replicated over Brexit with the UK’S current line- up.

PHIL TATE Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh I never thought I would admit to agreeing with Jeremy Corbyn, but I applaud him for saying that the SNP should clear up the mess they have made in Scotland.

If anyone should be able to recognise a political mess it is him. No doubt the SNP will be outraged (their usual state?), but it is about time a UK politician used the language that the SNP regularly use to describe politicians and policy at Westminster.

I hope this encourages more to make such comment to reveal the shame of Scotland’s own lost decade. KEN CURRIE Liberton Driveedinburgh

With Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale trying desperately to calm the situation surrounding the extreme and ignorant comments of British Labour bosses, Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan (suggesting indyref2 supporters are essentially racists), it was a delight to read about, and indeed, view, the new German Interkart company’s post-brexit map of Europe with their vision of the EU in 2019.

There it was, Scotland as an independent member with Ireland, alongside the postimperial Brexitania of England, Wales and Northern Ireland! Indeed, Britain and the British Empire will finally cease when Scotland once again takes its place in Europe and the world as an independent nation.

While independence brings responsibility and commitment it also brings joy, freedom and the excitement of achieving our full potential in an explosion of creativity. With rich human and material resources Scotland needs to have faith in itself as a nation.

To those Scots who lack the vision of Scotland’s future, the words of Hugh Macdiarmid come to mind “We ha’e faith in Scotland’s hidden poo’ers… The present’s theirs but a’ the past and future’s oors”. GRANT FRAZER Cruachan, Newtonmore