Anti-democratic

By next week I expect climate change activists will be disappointed that the SNP conference has not announced plans to oppose all exploration and production in Scotland’s North Sea. Together with the Greens, the SNP constantly criticise the UK Government on environmental and climate change issues such as fracking, while boasting of Scotland’s efforts on renewables. Ian Blackford MP states that “The UK Government must Although not made clear in your report (“No demand for Indyref2”, 26 April), 57 per cent of those surveyed by Scotlandinunionwereinfavourof a second referendum on independence.thelatestrefusalby the UK Government to grant a Section 30 order shows that the UK is more anti-democratic than the EU, which did not refuse the UK’S right to hold a referendum.

As the same poll showed that the SNP is on track to secure 51 seats out of 59 at Westminster, will those who oppose the democratic right of Scots to vote on their future accept that a majority of SNP MPS elected to Westminster constitutes a mandate for independence?

Scotland entered into the Union after the passing of the English Parliament’s Alien Act of 1705, under which an embargo was to be placed on major Scottish products being imported into England. It threatened that all Scottish Estates held in England by non-residents were to be considered alien property in law unless the Scottish Parliament had entered into treaty negotiations by Christmas Day 1705.

Contrary to the claim made on Wednesday night’s BBC Newsnight programme, the Scottish Treasury had no debt in 1707 as it was individual investors who lost money through the Darien Scheme, but now we are charged £3.6 billion a year through Gers as a share of interest on the UK’S massive national debt.

As Scotland is one of the most highly educated nations

in Europe and the value of Scottish natural resources capital is estimated to be a massive £273bn, why do some think we are incapable of running our own affairs?

Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh

On reading Laura Waddell’s article “Scotland’s constitutional debate shows signs of more maturity” on 25 April I sincerely hope she is correct with regard to issues relating to another independence referendum. However, the decision to hold a second referendum rests with Westminster and as the UK parliament has no written constitution, the basis on which a referendum is held has in the past been problematic.

When the vote was being taken on a decision to hold a referendum on the EU in Westminster in 2015 the leader of the House made clear that a simple majority would mean that the referendum would be advisory; for it to be mandatory would require a larger majority. This was constitutionally the correct interpretation.

MPS chose to ignore this interpretation and allowed the referendum to be mandatory on a simple majority. It is to be hoped that when a vote for a second independence referendum is held in Westminster that the Scottish MPS will show great maturity and insist that for the decision to be mandatory “a two-thirds majority” or “60 per cent majority” in favour of such a major constitutional change is required. This would be in line with the constitution of clubs and organisations in Scotland and would avoid the disasters which have been experienced as a result of the Brexit referendum.

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Mortonhall Road, Edinburgh

Nicola Sturgeon’s press team seems to have been quick off the mark on Wednesday. Only hours after her ministerial statement on the possibility of an indyref rerun before the 2021 Holyrood elections, the

news that “Scotland demands new independence referendum” was given prominent coverage on the websites of main German newspapers and TV news. In Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt and Der Spiegel, headshots of our First Minister and content were almost identical. In essence, Germans were told that Brexit is bad for Scotland,

that Scotland is ignored by London and that Scots overwhelmingly want EU membership and therefore independence.

Yet there was no mention of the inconvenient fact that, according to a Survation poll commissioned by Angus Robertson’s Progress Scotland think tank, only 24 per cent of Scottish voters actually want

an indyref within the next two years. Neither was there any mention that the oft-cited majority for Remain in Scotland was due to the high percentage of No-voters opting for staying in the EU.

In order to present a more balanced picture foreign correspondents should perhaps be encouraged to speak to opposition parties as well. However, that would require the opposition to be proactive and speak to the foreign press as well.

At the moment it seems that only the SNP makes itself known and heard outside the UK.

That does not impose an outcome on Parliament but it does rule out tinkering of the sort that Allan Sutherland and many of our MPS seem to think is possible.

Cramond Road South, Edinburgh