Sir, The admission by Oliver Letwin that the Tories plan to bring in a flat tax, thereby making cleaners pay the same rate as millionaires, is yet another reason to vote “yes” in September.
The most likely outcome of the next UK general election is a Conservative Party victory as they are the only party offering a referendum on the EU.
If Scotland votes “no” then the consequences will be stark; public sector pay will not increase until 2018, public sector strikes will effectively be outlawed, the pension age will increase to 72 (while life expectancy in Scotland is going down), nuclear weapons will be renewed at a cost of £75 billion, the NHS will be slowly privatised, benefits will be cut for the under -25s and the country will be opened up for fracking.
There will be no new meaningful powers for Holyrood. Some may, in fact, go back to Westminster. Scotland simply can’t afford a “no” vote in September, with the consequences being another five years of Westminster Tory rule
Alan Hinnrichs. 2 Gillespie Terrace, Dundee.
Not enough to justify this vote
Sir, I refer to Mr Ken Clark’s letter, Monday July 28. He states that Scottish independence is the result of Scots voting in enough numbers to give the SNP an outright majority. What a load of rubbish.
The SNP is there because most of us, including me, decided not to vote because we could not support a Labour Party which had got the country into such difficulties.
We did not have a party to vote for. Many of my friends voted SNP as their protest vote.
We all believed there was a system in place which would not allow a majority party to lead a Scottish Government. Regretfully we were proved wrong.
Again I state, if the SNP/Yes campaign movement can prove more than half of all Scots want independence then they have a case.
At present the SNP support is probably between 20 – 25% of the voting population and that is simply not enough to justify all of this turmoil and bitterness.
A Bruce. High Street, Auchterarder.
Her claim is nonsensical
Sir, Jenny Hjul is at it again, quoting supposed findings by one of the most unreliable polling organisations, Panelbase, to justify another scaremongering story to boost support for the Better Together brigade in the run-up to the forthcoming independence vote.
To show how nonsensical is her claim to a mass exodus from the country in the event of a “yes” vote is the figure of 700,000. Not all of these people would necessarily be householders but it is a safe bet that very many of them will own their property. This then begs the question, where are all the prospective property buyers to be found, who would wish to move to a country which thousands were in the process of leaving, to save them from possible financial disaster?
There is, however, one ray of hope for us in amongst all the gloomy predictions she has included in her piece and that is the fact that she is going to do us all a favour by taking to a helipad to be part of the exodus.
Allan MacDougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.
Helping hand for the doctor
Sir, I write to express my sorrow at the continual sadness of my fellow Scot “sic” Dr John Cameron of St Andrews concerning the inadequacies and failures of Scotland and her peoples.
With this in mind I am prepared to put up a fiver to start a fund to help Dr Cameron with his rail fare and removal expenses to go furth to his land of superiority, privilege and plenty and where the sun never sets.
Also, can I ask your columnist Jenny Hjul, who stated in her column on Wednesday that she knows two people who have sold their homes in anticipation of a Scottish holocaust if there is a “yes” vote, who the second person is?
One thing is certain whatever the outcome of the referendum, Scotland will be awash with crystal ball gazers, and various types of fortune-tellers who see through the mists of time at the drop of a hat.
Peter Mulheron. Miramar, Templehall, Longforgan.
Action at last! Or maybe not
Sir, “Finally”, I said to my wife as I read out Richard Burdge’s article to her regarding the ongoing problem of cyclists in the pedestrianised areas in Perth. “Something is going to be done at last!”
Think again! Later, on Monday afternoon I had to go into Perth for a couple of things. I took the bus rather than the car. On the way back to get the No.7 bus to return to Scone, two youths on bikes shot past me on the pavement in Kinnoull Street.
Then, while I sat in the bus on South Street, I looked out of the window to see another youth cycling up yes, up South Street against the traffic. When it got a bit busy with the traffic coming down, he just mounted the pavement at Tesco and carried on. No sign of any police so far.
So, come on Sgt Patton of Police Scotland, practise what you preach. We saw more police in the 10 days we spent in Munich at the beginning of June this year than in 10 months here in Perth.
Let’s get this sorted out before someone gets hurt.
Jack Alexander. 2 Stormont Way, Scone, Perth.