Sir, – I would point out to Andy Collins (Why would Scotland rejoin the UK?, Courier, November 2) that as the Dundee-born son of an English father and Scottish mother, whose grandfathers served in the British Army, who has spent half his adult life in London and still has a bank account there, I cannot help but identify as British.
When I hear Scots broadcasters based in London and their English equivalents in Glasgow, when the goods I order from Birmingham are delivered in Perthshire the next day, and when my taxes pay for British defence and English taxpayers support Scottish public services, I know I see only a few of the benefits of the United Kingdom.
More than that; little divides Scots from the English and Welsh apart from accent.
Those who live in the Gorbals have much more in common with the people of Toxteth in Liverpool than they do with Hillhead.
Moray fishers are closer in experience and attitudes to the people of Cornwall than they are to Kirkcaldy.
Orcadians and Shetlanders have long made known their disdain for both Edinburgh and London.
But instead of celebrating the centuries-old family, economic and social ties that bind the people of these islands, nationalists are driven by an insatiable desire to create division rather than unity.
They may get what they wish, but wiser heads know that the destruction of the UK will bring much pain and little pleasure to those of us who will be dragged down by their folly.
Michael Foreman.
Cargill,
Perthshire.
Future ‘not bright’ under Tory rule
Sir, – The UK is in a weaker condition to face this perfect storm that at any time in history.
The pandemic, Brexit and a possible financial crash awaits. Just one of these calamities would tax the most competent government which Westminster is way short of.
The Tories enrich, ennoble and aggrandise their friends on the backs of the jobless living hard on UK’s edges.
The money spent on contracts (without tender) to friends for PPE, which was scrapped, could have been used to fund school meal vouchers in England.
The Tories recognise the votes of those with no property are not enough to put them out office. The future does not look bright.
Ian Wallace.
Chapman Drive, Carnoustie.
Hate Bill will foster fear and suspicion
Sir, – The late Gordon Wilson said politics had become a 24/7 job with an unending stream of information to be dealt with.
Much of that pressure is a direct consequence of government overreach into the private lives of our citizens.
The proposals to amend the Hate Crime Legislation are one such example.
In the biography of Tom Johnston, with its foreword by Nicola Sturgeon, you can read of the way the first Labour government in 1924 fell into this trap.
Johnston believed in free speech and warned: “But if the government start prosecuting opinions, there is no saying where the prosecutions will end.”
Our police force is already over stretched in dealing with anti-social behaviour.
The proposed changes are likely to foster the same climate of suspicion and fear which is still evident to this day in nations subject to such attempts to curtail freedom of speech.
David Scott.
Westfield Road,
Broughty Ferry.
NHS got its £350 million, and more
Sir, – Referring to “the lie” that £350 million per week would be spent on the NHS instead of sending it to the EU.
The NHS’s own website claims that it achieved a balanced budget of £102 billion for year 2015/16. The Brexit campaign promise equates to £18.2bn.
The NHS budget for 2020/21 is £130 billion, a figure that comfortably exceeds the Brexit promise.
Perhaps readers would care to check the NHS website for themselves and decide who is telling lies?
G.M. McLeod.
Muirs, Kinross.
