IAIN Macwhirter's excellent article succeeds in articulating the need for the Liberal Democrats in a way that has eluded many in the party ("All power to the LibDems for standing up for our liberties in database debate, The Herald, March 5).

Whilst we only have five Liberal Democrat MSPs, under Willie Rennie's stoic leadership a potential erosion of our personal civil liberties in Scotland has been successfully challenged. As a loyal LibDem in trying times, I have been asked what the party is actually for. The pithy answer is the protection of our civil liberties -those very freedoms fought and won by generations, including this one, yet so often set aside by others seeking populist quick fixes. The LibDem presence in the Scottish Parliament may be small, but it is highly effective - acting as a bulwark for the defence of personal freedom. The Liberal Democrats are not a party of the right or of the left and the centre seems somehow sadly bland; perhaps we are best viewed as a party of forward thinking.

Taking that forward line will inevitably lead to unpopularity, and with that comes electoral disadvantage, but true level-headed patriotism is not measured by electoral popularity; and neither is a commitment to the liberal democratic ideals that underpin the success of our nation and our way of life so often taken for granted.

Our electoral success may be on the wane but the need for strong, challenging liberals in our parliaments, assemblies and councils has never been greater.

Allan C Steele,

22 Forres Avenue,

Giffnock.

I AM rather perplexed by Alison Rowat's critique of Alex Salmond's as-yet unpublished memoir ("Which, exactly, of Salmond's many dreams will die?", The Herald, March 6.

In the first place the dream of Scottish independence is not particular to Alex Salmond, but has been widely shared by thousands since 1707 and was publicly supported by 1.6 million in September 2014. They show no sign of giving up on it.

Secondly , the inference that Alex Salmond was "kicked to the kerb" after the referendum result is false. Mr Salmond stood down, to the dismay of many, because he felt he had failed the people of Scotland; his standing down was honourable and unforced. I and all I have spoke to in the Yes campaign are delighted that he is taking the fight to Westminster. The blind panic in the Unionist ranks proves that this is the right course.

Jim Lynch,

42 Corstorphine Hill Crescent, Edinburgh.

SEVERAL weeks ago I was telephone-canvassed by the Labour Party. I replied that if the party needed the support of an opinionated Conservative like me to retain Glasgow North West with its 14,000 majority, then it did not deserve to win. But I promised that I would consider it.

Echoing Sir John Major ("Miliband should rule out deal with SNP to protect the Union", The Herald, March 6), I have always voted against devolution, because it would bring, as it has, sustenance to the Nationalists.

In 1994, I was invited to defend the Union at the SNP's 60th anniversary conference, because no leading Unionist of any party had the courage and chutzpah to do so. And I was very kindly and generously received, since you ask.

In 1998, I and many others in the audience at a televised debate held in Aberdeen laughed at George Robertson when he foolishly proclaimed that devolution would kill separatism stone-dead. How right we were, and how wrong he and the air-headed academics and ragtag of media folk and bien-pensants have proved to be.

One thing is certain. If Labour gives off the slightest whiff of engaging with the SNP, even before the election never mind what happens after, then it will most certainly not get my vote. Moreover, it would condemn itself to inevitable and deserved defeat as millions of voters in Scotland, England and Wales deserted its cause in disgust that it would put party before country.

Let us be clear: nationalism is a shameful creed which divides society, families and friends. Compared with the classical liberalism of Adam Smith, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, which values individuals in all their variety above the collective, nationalism appeals to the yobbish and feckless elements in society, as we discovered during the referendum campaign and as we have seen with the BNP and the English Democrats.

We are all British, and that transcends the several petty nationalisms in these islands, because we are bound together as one free people through Magna Carta, language, culture, the rule of law, private property, individual liberty, market exchange, Parliament and the monarchy. Let us keep it that way.

Richard Mowbray,

14 Ancaster Drive, Glasgow.