Let us use power of reason, not fear, in independence debate

When he said these words, there was still – just – a case to be made for nuclear deterrence, and even for the aptly named MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) in a world where two great powers faced one another bristling with weapons that could destroy the world many times over.

But somebody needs to tell David Cameron that we are in a very different world ("Cameron: UK makes Scottish defence jobs safer", The Herald, April 4, and Letters, April 5). His attempt to drag the old discredited doctrine of deterrence out of the dustbin of history makes no sense, and should be firmly rejected by Scots. We face new enemies and dangers against which Trident is useless – indeed worse than useless, because it consumes resources that could be used for the real battles against the real threats of terrorism and poverty.

What do we do if al Qaeda gets WMDs? Launch a missile against them? That would give a new meaning to the euphemism of "collateral damage".

I earnestly hope that both sides in the referendum debate will rise above this kind of appeal to fear. To independence we may say Yes or No – but to the waste and illusion of Trident we say No.

Canon Kenyon Wright,

1 Churchill Close, Ettington,

Stratford upon Avon.

IN Iain AD Mann's latest tirade against the Prime Minister (Letters, April 5) he manages in his first two sentences to use the words "threaten", "intimidate", "frightening" and "despicable". As far as I read matters all the Prime Minister has said is that in the event of independence it is more likely that England would give future shipbuilding jobs to English yards. That is only to be expected and will seem to most people quite a reasonable position to take. When Mr Mann decides to use more temperate language then I might take his views more seriously.

Daniel Gardner,

12/3 Whistlefield Court, Bearsden.

It is a well-known defence tactic to ensure that the enemy knows the weak point so you know where they are likely to attack. Trident is designed to be a moveable and almost undetectable target hidden at sea. Obviously the weak point where an attack can be expected is its supply depot at the Holy Loch. The military and naval planners are not stupid: they know this. Therefore, there must be secret emergency supply depots already in existence in the event of the Holy Loch being taken out.

If an enemy attacks Trident's supply depot, I should think that there will be few if any jobs at the Holy Loch or, if it is a nuclear attack, many jobs remaining in Central Scotland.

I suspect that Mr Cameron's real concern is that if an independent Scotland won't help fund Trident, then Westminster can't afford it. So, if you will permit me to mix my metaphors, Scotland is the sacrificial lamb to save Westminster's bacon.

Brian Rattray,

124/2 Gylemuir Road,

Corstorphine, Edinburgh.

It is sickening to watch David Cameron threaten workers in Glasgow with the loss of their jobs at their French employer if they vote for independence in 2014. It is extremely doubtful if Cameron can exert much leverage on foreign-owned firms to abandon Scotland, but he can perhaps still use his power to close down the Clyde shipbuilding industry if he vindictively wishes to do so.

It is, however, worth examining the post-war history of shipbuilding under the Union. In the mid-1950s, Britain made 26% of the world's ships, and Scotland 38% of these. There were at least 21 different companies building ships on the Clyde, employing more than 50,000 workers. Even by the early 1970s, five yards remained on the upper Clyde and Scotts and Lithgows on the lower Clyde, with a total of just under 25,000 workers, and this is not counting allied industries.

The numbers of workers since then have shrunk steadily to around 3000 now, and work is now entirely concentrated on building warships for a fast-contracting Royal Navy. The UK Government is well aware that there is insufficient work to keep both Clyde yards and Portsmouth open, and it is inconceivable for political reasons, even with a no vote in the referendum, that Portsmouth will be closed and both Clyde yards maintained. So, the best that is offered by the UK Government is a token 1500 jobs in warship building on the Clyde.

Contrast shipbuilding in Scotland with other independent countries such as Norway, Finland or Belgium where a wide range of sophisticated ships are still produced, and there is no reason why this could not be replicated here. Indeed the recent launch of a hybrid ferry for Caledonian Macbrayne at Port Glasgow shows that sophisticated shipbuilding can still have a future here on a limited scale.

The UK has presided over the almost total collapse of Scottish shipbuilding over 50 years, and hanging on to the Union in the vain hope of a few orders from a contracting Royal Navy is not going to save it. The only hope is a new positive approach to build a broadly-based, sophisticated shipbuilding industry in an independent Scotland.

Ian Grant,

2 Ashburnham Gardens, South Queensferry.

"IF they are able to reach the whole of the United States, they can reach Europe too, they can reach us too." David Cameron said this in what amounts to a breathtaking example of tendentiousness, constructing a false argument and then using it to support an alternative viewpoint. The point is North Korea does not have the capacity to reach the whole of the US. It can barely reach Alaska and that may only be with conventional weapons.

I am in no way an apologist for North Korea and every effort needs to be put into effect to minimise its potential warmongering but to use a clearly baseless analogy as a reason/excuse for continuing with Trident is ridiculous. And there was me thinking that after the Iraq lies politicians would have learned their lesson. How silly of me.

Raymond Hendry,

12 Villafield Drive, Bishopbriggs.

Recent news items have revealed a glimpse of governmental mechanics of manipulation in which even the most vile has great value, a concept rather alien to our sense of common decencies. The mass revulsion over the Philpott factor and the horrors generated by Kim Jung Un's utterances have been appropriated and recycled by George Osborne and David Cameron respectively to fuel their own agendas, aided and abetted by lurid yet understandable headlines, and must be manna from heaven to a Government beset with the daily manifestations of a teetering economy.

In this preferred exercise of exploiting irrational fears over informed debate, Mr Osborne factors in the lifelong paid-up pensioners with his targeted scrounger subtext, while Mr Cameron uses the upgraded Korean divide to ramp up our likelihood of nuclear attack ( conveniently ignoring the realities of missile range and geography), to justify Trident, and to whip up fears of unemployment should Scotland vote for independence.

Was this black arts methodology of irrational fears supplanting hard facts how the fictional Iraqi WMDs and the 40-minute warning were morphed into regime change masquerading as a just war? If so, the important societal glue of our common decencies is dissolved by disillusioned cynicism and by default becomes easier fertile ground for passive manipulation.

George Devlin,

Rosebank,

6 Falcon Terrace Lane, Glasgow.