Letters to the press, 10/03/22: "An independent Scotland would be a weak enclave within the British Isles, with no defence facilities and a weak economy. It would surely be an easy target for any military invasion if the current crisis was to escalate"

In these uncertain times, we must surely all give continued support for the UK remaining as one nation. An independent Scotland would be a weak enclave within the British Isles, with no defence facilities and a weak economy. It would surely be an easy target for any military invasion if the current crisis was to escalate. The SNP may object as much as it likes to Faslane and its nuclear submarine fleet but, if Nato has to keep all its member countries safe, then acceptance of this base is absolutely necessary. Can anyone really imagine the SNP taking control of such matters as national security? As ever, it would be completely out of its depth. We are certainly ‘better together’, Robert I G Scott via email.

Instead of criticising the UK’s admittedly tardy refugee policy, engaging in a “handbags at dawn” spat with .J.K Rowling over her lamentable Gender Recognition Act – and apologising to “witches”, why doesn’t Nicola Sturgeon adopt and champion the UK’s refugee sponsorship scheme whereby churches, councils and community groups can take responsibility for refugees, galvanising Scots politicians and people into making this work? Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

The SNP administration intends to pay for free Covid LFT tests for Scots, given that the UK Government is refusing to continue to pay for them. This will cost us £200 million every month and demonstrates where priorities in Scotland lie. That £200m is the same amount devoted by Holyrood to closing the attainment gap in one year. One might have thought that helping deprived children to perform better at school would be an urgent imperative for a country whose rulers constantly claim that our population is highly educated. What is the point of issuing a 10-year plan to improve Scotland’s economic performance, with education a key part of it, and then on another day spending the kind of money that might achieve a closing of the attainment gap on virus testing that will mostly turn out to be negative now that the pandemic is becoming endemic? The SNP demands money from the UK Government to cover its policy choice. If this issue shows one thing, it – like so much else – is that Scotland would not be able to live at anything like the standard of living it has now if it left the UK. Jill Stephenson. Corstorphine, Edinburgh.

If anything exemplifies the failure of our politicians to prioritise realities, it is surely this daft apology from the First Minister re: “witches”. We have all gone slightly mad in the UK, becoming ever more introspective and focusing on trivialities and gossip which are very far removed from the real issues facing the UK, Europe and the world generally. Please, all of you constituency representatives at Holyrood, learn from what is happening in Ukraine, abandon partisan politics and make a real effort to manage the future of Scotland, the UK and our European neighbours. Derek Farmer, Anstruther, Fife

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