Time for strong leadership to guide Scotland away from folly of splitting up UK
I, and I suspect the majority of Scots who support the Union, agree with the concerns of David Gerrard (Letters, 20 July).
As with Better Together, we need a strong, influential voice to galvanise support and activity to show those who would destroy the Union that, as in 2014, there is massive, undemonstrative support for the status quo.
I suspect Gordon Brown might just be that person, having just launched his “Think tank”. Whilst I do not agree with his politics, I admire him as an individual and he is passionately concerned about the future of the UK.
It is frightening how nationalists/separatists refuse to believe all and any dire economic, financial and social warnings about the folly of breaking up the most successful nation ever.
How happy they are to condemn Scotland to greater austerity, happy to accept there will be increased taxes and happy to accept local services will be greatly diminished. They have been warned that an independent Scotland could indeed be in a similar position to Greece. Happy to accept that there will have to be a hard border between Scotland and England, our greatest economic partner. This has been welldocumented in Andrew Wilson’s report.
The Scottish Financial Commission recently warned of increasing risks to the Scottish budget and last week we saw that there has been a massive shortfall in income tax receipts of £941m in 2017/18.
The illadvised creation of Police Scotland is facing yet another annual deficit and the threat of a reduction in manpower of 300. It seems like the Scottish “government” will be pouring millions into Ferguson Shipyard and on and on.
The record of the divisive, grievancebased tenure of this nearcommunist regime is abysmal, yet followers refuse to believe any of it. How much better it could have been had Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon had the grace to manage Scotland in a sensible, pragmatic manner within a strong UK.
Nicola Sturgeon is aware of all of this and aware that any newreferendumwillnotbring about the emotionbased independence she dreamt of in her teenage years. That is why she is hesitant, much to the aggravation of some of her misguided support who would condemn “the people of Scotland” – Ian Blackford’s favourite expression – to years of misery.
So David Gerrard is correct: time for leadership from “someone of influence”, someone to step up and look at crossparty support as called for by Catherine Moorehead in The Scotsman on 9 July. There is considerable discord within the SNP and this is the time for the silent majority to be energised and motivated. Is Gordon Brown the person to do it?
DOUGLAS COWE
Newmachar, Aberdeenshire
David Gerrard repeats one of Project Fear’s hoariest old myths that an independent Scotland will be cut off from a “major trading partner”, the RUK. That is not going to happen because the customers and consumers of iconic Scottish goods and high quality services will ensure that it does not. However, regardless of how many times this argument is rebutted, it is clear that it is to be a Unionist mantra.
But one of “the real truths” Unionists choose to keep quiet is the scenario whereby Scotland is in the EU and the RUK is not. Because of existing links and commonality of language and regulations it would be relatively simple for RUK countries to relocate parts of their operations to Scotland as a bridge to the EU and maintain existing trading relationships. I am truly optimistic.
GILL TURNER
Derby Street, Edinburgh