Monkey selfie

the EU referendum.

The leadership knew then that an absolute commitment to a second referendum might have put some off, but equally the diluted version reduced the strength of support that can be inferred from the subsequent vote.

More recently, of course, a message was delivered in the snap general election, when a strong focus on the implications of a second independence referendum enabled other parties to succeed at the SNP’S expense. This has inevitably further watered down the degree of ‘mandate’ that the SNP can claim.

Yet I cannot agree with Pete Wishart that Scotland needs another independence referendum, even if it is delayed.

If his own greatly weakened majority at the last election did not sufficiently convey the mood of the people, perhaps a 2021 election will be required to deliver the message with even greater emphasis.

As for his idea of an ‘Independence 2.0’ case for leaving the UK, given the huge amount of public resources and distraction of focus that went into the first now widely discredited version, he will perhaps forgive me in not looking forward to receiving the revised SNP vision of a Scottish utopia.

KEITH HOWELL West Linton, Peeblesshire People all over the world were intrigued by the ‘monkey selfie’ photos taken by a wild macaque who picked up an unattended camera in the Indonesian jungle – including renowned wildlife photographer Andy Parkinson.

Following the groundbreaking court case, in which PETA US sought to establish the macaque Naruto as the copyright owner of the photos, Parkinson has pledged to donate a percentage of his profits to charities that work to preserve