Expatriate Scots should have a say in their country’s future

SIR – Alex Salmond and his party have said that the future of Scotland will be decided by the “will of the Scottish people”, but they have not clarified how the “Scottish people” will be defined for the purpose of a referendum.

I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, of two Scottish parents and four Scottish grandparents. My family name represents one of the oldest established clans in Scotland.

My father was an officer with the Royal Scots and both grandfathers fought in the First World War with the Royal Scots and the Highland Light Infantry respectively.

I was educated at an Edinburgh school and the University of Aberdeen, where I gained an honours degree in Scottish history. I have performed with traditional Scottish music bands since I was 15 and am a proud member of the Caledonian Club in London.

I hold exactly the same passport as Alex Salmond. But like so many Scots, my career has taken me overseas. At present, I work for an Italian company and live in England.

All this notwithstanding, I fear Alex Salmond will deny me a vote in my country’s most important decision since 1707 because, as I understand it, the conditions of suffrage boil down to having a Scottish postcode at the time of the referendum.

Millions of Scots living outside Scotland are anxiously awaiting clarification on this point, and confirmation of our right to vote on the destiny of our country. Peter Ferguson Hertford SIR – The feisty Scots have undoubtedly advanced Britain and the world with stunning innovation. But before they are seduced by the beguiling words of Alex Salmond, they should consider the failure of another Scottish leader, Sir William Patterson, a co-founder of the Bank of England in 1694, who almost bankrupted the Scottish economy with his Panama getrich-quick scheme.

Another Scottish knight, Sir Fred Goodwin, has also created financial havoc, and it was on Gordon Brown’s watch that the gap between rich and poor was allowed to widen, and the economy brought down.

Alex Salmond is flying in the face of history, as the human race now tries to pull together for universal benefit. Bill Newham Worsley, Lancashire SIR – Matt Showering says that Scotland does not have the constitutional power to secede from the United Kingdom, even if it has the political might to do so (Letters, January 15). But the expression “people”, as defined tentatively by the United Nations Organisation, denotes a social entity with a clear identity, its own characteristics and a long history, and implies a relationship with a territory.

This is the definition for the purpose of establishing whether a social entity is a “people” fit to enjoy and exercise the right of self-determination.

On this basis, Scotland’s claim to self-determination would be unchallengeable. It does not need to ask a British prime minister’s permission to secede. Dick Gagel Peterculter, Aberdeenshire SIR – On the union of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603, the red dragon of Wales was removed from the royal coat of arms and replaced by the Scottish unicorn. If Scotland becomes independent, will the original dragon emblem replace the unicorn?

Furthermore, the Union flag could become green where, now, it is blue, allowing Wales to be represented on the flag for the first time since the Wales-England union in 1536.

That being said, it is to be hoped that a majority of the good people of Scotland would vote to remain within the Union. Derek Jones Ingatestone, Essex SIR – Perhaps England should make a unilateral declaration of independence and secede from the United Kingdom, leaving the Celtic fringes either to get on with their own lives or to negotiate terms to join.

If they joined, they would become part of England in one united country with a single parliament to represent everybody – which is what we had before devolution. Ted Shorter Hildenborough, Kent