Sir, I was saddened, but not surprised, to see the article on the Cupar farmers’ market in your May 1 edition. It is an unfortunate fact that trade in Cupar has been badly hit by the ongoing roadworks in the town. Any attempt to blame this on a Yes Scotland stand nearby would be laughable if it was not so serious.
There are a number of good reasons why there was no legal problem with the stand and why a licence was not needed: nothing was being sold at the stand, it was not blocking any footway and it was some distance from the nearest market stall.
I have spoken to Police Scotland who have confirmed there is no problem with a stand at the cross.
We at Yes Scotland pride ourselves on the courtesy of our supporters and I would be very surprised if anyone was actually harassed by one of our team. I know that it can be annoying to be offered leaflets in the street but if anyone has a genuine complaint they should contact me at andy.collins@yesfife.com and I will certainly look into it for them.
It is not good for democracy that there is so much misinformation out there. In the same edition you quote Roger Lawrence of Montrose saying: “We’re too small a country to go it alone.” Even David Cameron and Alistair Darling have made it clear that Scotland is quite capable of running its own affairs. It is to counter this sort of misinformation about an independent Scotland that we need to be on the streets talking to people to explain the real facts.
Now that we are in the closing months of the campaign and it is clear the Yes campaign is winning the argument it does not surprise me that the No campaign will use any excuse to try to discredit the Yes campaign.
As I have said before, these negative comments are a blatant attack on free speech by those who want Scotland to continue to be controlled by the Westminster government.
We have already agreed, in consultation with Cupar Heritage, not to have a stand at the cross at the May market because they are having a ceremony there. It is important that the key messages about the benefits of an independent Scotland are not drowned out by petty point scoring from Better Together in the press.
Andrew Collins. Ladyburn House, Cupar.
Irresponsible way to vote
Sir, I was depressed after reading the letter from Mr John Ritchie (Courier, May 2). It was bad enough that he appears to be so strongly motivated to vote for Scotland leaving the union by his unfortunate meeting some years ago with a bigoted Englishman. Far worse is his attitude as demonstrated in the last paragraph of his letter: “The effect . . . is tending to push me into a ‘yes’ vote whatever the consequences. Just for the hell of it.”
Is he genuinely wishing to settle the future of his country “just for the hell of it”? Can he really be so irresponsible?
Like him I have met a few bigoted English people who have spouted anti-Scottish nonsense, but I have also met many more English men and women as well as many Scots living in England whose attitude is quite different.
They do not resent what is happening in Scotland, and they all hope very much that the referendum will result in a convincing “no” vote.
I do not wish my grandchildren who live in England (because of their parents’ employment there) to grow up in a foreign country. That seems to me to be a good reason among many others for voting “no” in the referendum. I am certainly not going to do so just “for the hell of it”.
Alastair Stewart. 86 Albany Road, Broughty Ferry, Dundee.
No complaints under Labour
Sir, There were no complaints from Scotland under the UK governments of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan in the 1960s – 1970s, nor during the 13 years of the Blair and Brown administrations, all of which were kept in power thanks very largely to the disproportionate representation of Labour north of the border.
Yet Scottish separatists like Jim Robertson and Laurie Richards (letters, May 2) are now reduced to arguing that the 307-year-old union the most successful national union in history is no longer working because the present Westminster coalition does not happen to reflect the political complexion of Scotland!
Did Conservatives in the rest of Britain agitate for liberation from Scottish Labour during its period of dominance? No, because it’s swings and roundabouts part of the price paid to sustain the union of England and Scotland that gave birth to the industrial revolution, that created the greatest empire the world has ever known, that defeated Napoleon and won two world wars; none of which could have been achieved by either nation alone.
But who is there in the referendum debate with an awareness of history and a vision for Britain’s future? The SNP conceals the real issues by treating it as simply a choice of voting either for Scotland or for London Tories, and the UK parties are letting them get away with it. Vivian Linacre.
21 Marshall Place, Perth.
Little change over the years
Sir, It was Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who, in 1962, described Russia as a “country of slaves ruled by barbarians” and little has truly changed over the years, apart from the barbarians becoming richer.
This must place the admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, recently expressed by Scotland’s own First Minister Alex Salmond, in a new and alarming light.
Malcolm Parkin. 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.