Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon averred at the weekend during a BBC interview that in the wake of the Leave vote, she cared about the UK and England.
Her insincerity made me cringe.
At the heart of both her and the SNP’s raison d’etre is a basic hatred of anything to do with the UK, and especially the English.
Ms Sturgeon’s instruction to her flock, and they followed it to the lamb, was to vote Remain, by which she hoped to seal an overall UK Remain decision.
This, in turn, would have allowed the SNP to continue to bleed funding from, and chip away at the fabric of, the UK, while it remained in the EU.
Ms Sturgeon is guilty of a spectacular miscalculation of the depth of dissatisfaction with the EU by ordinary English and Welsh men and women, people just like the near 40% here in Scotland who voted Leave.
She will now devote her energy to going cap in hand to any quarter of Europe which will listen.
The First Minister will grovel for any deal at any cost to try to secure EU membership for an independent Scotland and agree to pump millions of pounds of our money back into a discredited EU that has had its day.
The United Kingdom has lasted for centuries.
The EU has barely managed half that.
There are many in other EU countries who want out and the EU will now slowly disintegrate.
The sensible thing would be to recognise the overall UK result and work together with our nearest and closest neighbours on the way forward.
That will never happen because the only sense which the SNP has is that of outdated grievance.
Meanwhile, life here will continue with all the unimportant things to the fore: a shattered North Sea, strikes on the railways, impending teachers’ strikes, the continuing shambles in health, local government finance and the police. But we are invited to follow Ms Sturgeon, get under the saltire and everything will be fine.
Jim Shaw.
Hill Street,
Dundee.
Unwarranted attacks on SNP
Sir, – When our First Minister has been praised across the whole political spectrum for her response to the Brexit crisis and for her reassurance to EU immigrants living in Scotland, what do we find in The Courier but the usual derogatory comments from the usual suspects.
At a time of political chaos, when the irresponsibility of a few senior Tories has caused serious economic damage and the country is divided as never before, these people think it fitting to continue to attack the SNP and its leader.
I find this a sad comment on the opponents of our present Government here in Scotland.
George White.
2 Cupar Road,
Auchtermuchty.
This is time for cool heads
Sir, – The euro is in crisis, the EU budget has not been signed off for years, many countries cannot handle the huge numbers of migrants pouring in and there is widespread and accelerating social unrest.
Other referendums may now follow and soon there may be no EU for us to be a member of.
I voted for the UK to Remain in the EU because, particularly with the opt-outs which keep us fairly safe, we would be best placed as a friend to help create a new and better Europe when the disintegration occurs. I did not vote for Scotland to be a member of the EU.
Unfortunately the UK has voted for Brexit and we have no idea what sort of relationship will emerge between the UK and the EU.
Now I don’t have any idea what is best for Scotland: remaining part of the UK, leaving the UK to stay with the EU (and if so on what terms) or full separation.
If the SNP tries to bounce us into indyref2 quickly I will definitely vote to stay with the UK but I hope that cooler heads will prevail.
We need a clear understanding of the full implications of all of the three choices we face.
If the SNP is to show leadership it will ensure that we are given the time and the full information to allow us to make a mature, intelligent and considered judgment. Ideally an independent commission of experts can be assembled to advise us.
A C Grant.
Alturlie,
Freuchie.
Good wishes from Canada
Sir, – I would like to comment on Helen Taylor’s letter from Amulree (June 27).
I have lived in Canada for more than 50 years, though I was born in Fife, so I see all the news of Scotland from a fair distance.
The marvellous letter from Ms Taylor went straight to my heart.
I agree with her totally and hope that all will be worked out for the better for Scotland and indeed the rest of the UK.
Elizabeth Greig.
4578 Otter Point Road
Sooke,
British Columbia.
We should have listened
Sir, – Alexandra Smith (June 27) urges us to get back into fellowship with all our Commonwealth friends whom “we have had to snub in obedience to Brussels bureaucrats”.
How strange then that all these snubbed countries urged us to vote to remain in the EU.
Jane Ann Liston.
5 Whitehill Terrace,
Largo Road,
St Andrews.
Accept result and move on
Sir, – Anyone from the losing side who had any sense of democracy would accept the decision even though disappointed, join together with those from the other side and move on to get the best outcome for the country.
However, what we have is while Leave supporters are urging everyone to join together and acknowledging the concerns of those who voted to Remain, we have the sight of a large proportion of Remain supporters still screaming doom and disaster.
They are castigating Leave supporters labelling them racists, xenophobes and too stupidly ignorant to have a valid vote.
This is not helped by politicians from the Remain side throwing their dummies out of the pram and walking away from their responsibilities.
We also have more than three million signatures to a petition to overturn the decision of a majority and older voters being told that they had no right to vote.
Then we have stock market and currency traders acting like frightened deer at what is still a prosperous UK trading water hole?
Paul Lewis.
99 Guardwell Crescent,
Edinburgh.
Westminster game playing
Sir, – There were well-considered points from Helen Taylor and Alexandra Smith (June 27).
It is a pity the same cannot be said of Nicola Sturgeon who seems to have reverted to the time when she was spouting awful nonsense in the run-up to the Scottish referendum.
The fact is Scotland voted to be part of the UK. We cannot be constantly pleading that Scotland is a special case when something arises that we don’t like. That’s why we have representation at Westminster but my hair will be greyer before I hear any worthwhile persuasive speeches being made by our Westminster representatives.
Unfortunately, through inexperience and party brainwashing, all they seem able to do is engage in accusatory wordplay, which has about the same beneficial effect for Scotland and the UK more generally as me shouting obscenities at our pesky seagulls.
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Delusion of Brexit vision
Sir, – Brexiters promised the oxymoronic scenario of a thriving economy linked to tight immigration control and implied such an outcome could be attained by voting for it.
But retaining access to the world’s largest transnational market will require us to accept the free movement of people so the mixed blessing of racial purity has a big price-tag.
If Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister he will inherit a poisoned chalice as he must break a key Brexit promise on either migration or the economy and already he has a haunted look.
The archipelago will become closed, isolated and sluggish as Great Britain shrivels into Little England because the Brexit vision of a vibrant, outward- looking economy is delusional.
Dr John Cameron.
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews.