This household has just received through the post a glossy pamphlet, of 16 pages, lavishly furnished with the smiling photography and imagery of advertisement, to promote the proposition that "Scotland should stay in the United Kingdom".

This is in the name, prominently displayed, of HM Government and presented as "information about the referendum on Scottish Independence". The cost of this flagrant partisan intervention has also, presumably, been covered by HM Government.

This misuse of public funds and the voice of supposedly benevolent authority is enough in itself, I hope, to stiffen the resolve of all who have already decided to vote Yes in September, and to add to them many more hitherto undecided.

Christopher Small, Park, Isle of Lismore, Argyll.

I am becoming weary of the Yes Campaign's silliness in trying to personalise the proposed televised debate between Alex Salmon and David Cameron or Alistair Darling.

The debate is about issues and not individuals. It is right that the No campaign should be represented by a Scot representing a Scottish constituency. Any Tory, toff or not, with an English accent is going to be judged second in this arena.

R Russell Smith, 96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.

Alan Fitzpatrick says that the proposed TV referendum debate will provide an essential platform and focus for both sides (Letters, June 25). I could not disagree more. What we will have is two politicians trading dubious statistics, trying to score points off each other and offering lofty-sounding soundbites in the hope that we might mistake these for great vision. At the end, various pundits will tell us who "won" and who "lost". This sterile exercise might entertain the committed partisans of each side but it will do nothing to illuminate the complex issues we have to consider in September.

We are not electing a president based on the whiteness of his teeth, the freshness of his breath or the fluency of his performance before the cameras. The referendum is about much more. This proposed TV trivia will contribute little. My only hope is that there will be something worth watching on another channel.

Russell Vallance,

4, West Douglas Drive,

Helensburgh.

I have read the many letters Richard Mowbray has had published in The Herald over the years and find it very difficult to believe that he could live happily and harmoniously anywhere.

David Clark,

Wrights Toll Cottage,

Tarbolton.