Scots unleash powerful passions over nations and politics

My middle name is my maternal grandmother’s maiden name and my ties to my Scottish family are much stronger than those to my English relatives, who we rarely saw as children.

Unlike Mark Casci, who describes tooting his horn as he crosses the Scottish border (Yorkshire Post, January 11), I make no outward gesture but my heart always lifts and there is the feeling that I’m coming home.

It saddens and depresses me that Alex Salmond wants to have the referendum in 2014, the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

It seems as if the Scottish Nationalists have never forgotten their turbulent history or forgiven the appalling treatment they received from the English Army, particularly after the Jacobite rebellion. Our Queen mentioned forgiveness in her Christmas message, probably regarding Ireland but equally applicable to Scotland.

It was encouraging to see Nick Clegg laughing in the House of Commons when David Cameron said the referendum was more of a “never endum” and to watch Ed Miliband and the Prime Minister in complete harmony on this issue. Let us hope that this show of unity is a good omen for the future of the United Kingdom.

From: George Appleby, Clifton, York.

I DON’T blame the Scots. They have a very good spokesman speaking for them in Alex Salmond. Certainly a match for Cameron and he speaks for the nation with out any baggage like the British main parties, Tories, Labour and the floating Lib Dems.

Britain is ruled by these three in London with the overruling power of the City pulling the strings.

That is the system we live under. I don’t like it and a lot of others don’t either. And they tell us we are all in this together: Rubbish!

We have a national party available here in England but we would still live under the same system unlike the Scots. Weak governments with minimum votes from the electorate. That’s the way they like it ... and will keep it as long as they keep getting a few of us silly enough to go to the polls.

From: John Thompson, Thurston Road, Northallerton.

I FOUND the answer to the problem of Scottish independence in a Christmas present! It was a book, The Time has Come, by a Yorkshire author Bob Dales, and he squeezed in the answer among a great variety of subjects.

It convinces me that Scottish independence is just a pipedream, a device to get more power from Westminster. If the Scots think they can manage on their own, why do they need those millions of pounds from England?

The time has certainly come for that grant to be stopped and also legislation proposed by the Scottish Parliament to be scrutinised by the House of Lords, same as English legislation.

From: Michael Iveson, Summerbridge, Harrogate.

TO many people, Britain is currently in a state of national crisis regarding the economy, having been taken to the brink of disaster by the previous Labour administration.

In order to pull back from the brink it needs a united effort of accepting less and tightening one’s belts and helping each other through to better times, as happened during the last war.

We will not be helped by people who already have jobs and pensions going on strike, nor by Mr Salmond attempting to break up the union.

Come to think of it, what happened to the “I’m backing Britain” campaign of a few years ago? Surely the time is right for a return to those days?

From: Ken Hartford, Durham Mews, Butt Lane, Beverley.

REGARDING Scottish independence. Surely, it would be polite or even legally essential to ask the Queen for her opinion?