AS we enter the last few months in the run-up to the independence referendum both sides in the debate have a responsibility to avoid exaggerated claims.
However, as the polls continue to close it is hardly a surprise to see the claims made by those against independence become more wild and outlandish by the day.
The latest is that from former secretary-general of Nato, George Robertson, who has said that Scottish independence would be "cataclysmic" for the West in an era of international turmoil.
Lord Robertson said a "debilitating divorce" after a Yes vote in September would threaten the stability of the wider world and that the US administration was worried about the possibility of Scottish independence. I, for one, never knew Scotland was so powerful that independence would threaten the established world order.
Only last month the US Secretary of State cited the independence referendum as a model of democracy and it is to be noted that Lord Robertson fails to cite any evidence to back up his claim of US concern on this matter. This latest example of abject scaremongering is not worthy of such an important debate, but is, unfortunately, a sign of things to come.
Alex Orr,
Flat 2, 77 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.
LORD Robertson must be lampooned for his outrageous assertions on a vote for independence in Scotland. I am concerned, given the events going on in Ukraine, with nothing but hot air coming out of Nato, that he should use this kind of language on independence. It is getting so ridiculous I would not, now, be surprised to see Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Edinburgh and George Robertson in Glasgow walking up and down Princess Street and Sauchiehall Street with the old-style billboards round their necks, heralding The End Is Nigh on September 18. I only wish Spitting Image was still around.
Gil Hyde,
10 Mearns Road, Clarkston.
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