Unitedforgood

and English headlined “Tick the Box” relating to the imminent census. It has appeared several times in this and other Scottish newspapers and I assume it is paid content funded by the Scottish Government.

The article encourages readers to tick the relevant box in the census document to show that they are competent in the Gaelic language. It contains the sentence ‘Whether you’re a fluent speaker, you’re a listener of Radio nan Gàidheal or you like to watch BBC Alba – remember to tick the box!

It seems wrong that the body conducting the census is paying for adverts to encourage people to answer in a certain way. BBC Alba shows rugby and football matches watched by many who have no competence in Gaelic. It smacks of desperation artificially to inflate the figures of Gaelic speakers to justify the disproportionate sums spent on a language spoken by 57,000 people (2011 census) and by as few as 7,000 in everyday life.

ROBERT CAIRNS Harrietfield, Perthshire

Most people in Scotland agree it would be inappropriate for the SNP to proceed with a second, unnecessary, divisive referendum on breaking up Britain while Putin is savaging Ukraine. The SNP’S current excuse not to inflict another referendum on Scotland follows similar postponements because of Brexit and Covid. If a project has to be cancelled three times because it would be unwise, foolish and dangerous to proceed then it is reasonable to conclude the project is fundamentally flawed.

If Scotland, truly, was oppressed by being part of the UK and there was a genuine appetite by the majority to separate Scotland from family and friends in the rest of the UK then the SNP would proceed regardless of other factors. It is over for the SNP separation project. The United Kingdom will stay United. BRUCE HALLIDAY

Dumfries