No doubt the SNP and its supporters will use the allegations that Boris Johnson held parties in Downing Street during lockdown as yet another reason why Scotland should separate from the rest of the UK. In fact, the opposite is true. Regardless of our political views, we are fortunate to live in a country where individuals, the media, Parliament and even elected members of his own party are free to report, investigate, criticise and publicise alleged wrongdoing by the Prime Minister. Once allegations are investigated, any proven misleading, lawbreaking or poor judgment can then be judged and punished either by his party, Parliament, the legal system, at the ballot box, or all four. This is the result of hundreds of years of evolving democracy and the rule of law in our islands, and is something the citizens of many countries can only dream of. The absence of consequences following the Holyrood parliamentary committee’s conclusion that the First Minister had misled the Scottish Parliament about her actions during the handling of the allegations against Alex Salmond, combined with the SNP’s omerta-like intolerance of internal dissent, does not inspire confidence in swiftly achieving similar maturity if Scotland were to separate. Mark Openshaw, Aberdeen.