TOMORROW, it will be exactly one month since Referendum Day.
To some, it may already seem a lifetime away. For others, it was only yesterday.
Our readers belong in the second category. No sooner had the dust settled than a firestorm was raised.
In this slot three weeks ago, I wrote that we had been receiving between 150 and 200 letters a day in the fortnight before the big vote. Things have since calmed down, as predicted, but it is pleasing to note our mailbag is still significantly heavier than in the months leading up to September 18. And the burning topic, again, is the question of the constitution.
It is only to be expected. After all, the 84.6 per cent turnout was a manifestation of the burgeoning level of political engagement.
The French wartime leader and statesman Charles de Gaulle once said: "I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians." There is scant chance of that.
September 18 has now been usurped by September 16, the date of the "vow" by David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg. The subsequent setting up of the Smith Commission, the debate over extra powers for Holyrood and the question of English votes for English laws have become the hottest topics for discussion. I would say roughly two-thirds of the letters we receive are now on the subject of constitutional reform.
However, that still means in recent days the Letters Pages have seen discussions on such diverse issues as climate change, abortion, land reform, the Islamic State and Ebola.
It is pleasing to note, too, that while our regular correspondents are still contributing, a fair proportion of the "newbies" who joined us in August and September have stayed with us. And new names are frequently appearing.
It has been pointed out, with justification, there is something of a gender imbalance, with the number of letters from men greatly exceeding those from women. This is an unfortunate reflection of the reality - as in everything on the Letters Pages, the weight of correspondence published reflects the level of contributions received. I would be delighted if more women would take up their pens (or, more likely, take to the keyboards). Gender quotas, tempting though they may be, are best left to political parties. We will continue to select letters on quality criteria only.
We are fortunate the quality is so high. And we know that, unlike some politicians, our readers speak from the heart. A fine example was published yesterday, when, commenting on the decision by the Scottish Medicines Commission not to fund the breast cancer drug Kadcyla. Alan Potter of Paisley wrote, two years to the day of the death of his wife, Jeanette, that had it been available to her, "she might just have lived long enough to the see the birth of the granddaughter who now carries her name", prompting him to question our values as a society.
To paraphrase an old saying, death and tax-raising powers will always be with us. It is a privilege to be custodian of a platform in which such topics are so eloquently discussed.
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