Scotland should not give up its influence at home and abroad

For the Nationalists, facing the future appears to be a matter of leaving the big decisions up to others, with the most glaring example being their models for use of the pound after independence. The preferred option is a currency union with the core rest of the United Kingdom (rUK) having complete control over peripheral Scotland's monetary policy, and second best is use of sterling in the same way that Panama uses the dollar. Both of these options remove any Scottish input into the governance of its currency.

The same applies to international institutions and organisations such as Nato, the EU, the UN and the World Bank, where Nationalists wish Scotland to stop being amongst the main players and join the ranks of the smaller, less important countries.

In contrast, those of us who support the continuance of the United Kingdom see Scotland as having a confident and accomplished integral role as part of one of most influential members in these organisations, with a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, established authority as one of the leading big countries at the EU, and massive institutional authority at the IMF, the World Bank, and Nato.

Nationalists would give all these up, along with any say in the running of the pound or any other aspect of UK social or economic policy. (The same applies with defence: the truth is that multilateral disarmament can rid of the world of nuclear weapons, unilateral disarmament can rid it of a few nuclear weapons, and indepen­dence would rid the world of none whatsoever.)

The choice for Scots is not one between a future of certainty and one of uncertainty; it is rather the choice between retaining hard and soft influence domestically and globally - or abandoning responsi­bility for shaping and creating a better future for itself, the UK and the wider world.

Peter A Russell,

87 Munro Road,

Jordanhill,

Glasgow.

THE crass decision by Alex Salmond to hijack England's national day with a speech in Carlisle was an embarrassment to him and to Scotland as a whole ("Battle of St George's Day", The Herald, April 23). The First Minister does not understand that his every action serves to drive a wedge between the peoples of Scotland and England, and that this is only worsened by such grandstanding.

I count many English people as friends and business acquaintances. Their opinions about the referendum are, without exception, fair and balanced. They don't understand why we would wish to leave the UK but fully respect our right to choose. They wish us well with the outcome, but make it clear that should we decide to leave, then that will be the end of it.

If only Mr Salmond would realise that he doesn't exist in a political vacuum. At the very least, he should have let our English neighbours enjoy St George's Day in peace.

Derek Miller,

Westbank,

West Balgrochan Road,

Torrance.

GORDON Brown's advice to the Scots on pensions ("Brown's top five positive reasons to stay in UK", The Herald, April 23) highlights the fact that he thinks we senior citizens, like him, suffer from selective amnesia.

This is the man, as Chancellor in 1997, who abolished the advanced corporation tax and in doing so raided the pension pots of diligent workers who were saving for their old age.

This is the man, along with the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who was warned by the now-defunct accountancy company Arthur Andersen of the consequences of the above actions.

This is the man who, in 1997, stripped the Bank of England of its banking regulatory powers and establish a tripartite system to oversee the operation of this new system but did not attend any of its meetings. Other partners in this structure, the Bank of England and the FSA, ran their own war games and knew in 2004/5, well before the financial crash, that the system was not fit for purpose.

This is the man who, in his largesse, increased old age pensions by £0.75 per week.

This is the man who removed the 10p tax band, with many pensioners and low-paid being financially penalised; it cost £2.7bn to correct this folly.

This is the man whose record on financial prudence is questionable to say the least.

And this is the man giving us advice?

Alan McKinney,

10 Beauchamp Road, Edinburgh.

MANCHESTER United has a problem, and its situation may just have a lesson for the United Kingdom and hence the Better Together campaign. The football team has experienced a long period of success, probably still on the up and up when Sir Alex Ferguson retired from his managerial position. With millions of fans all over the world, the company may have great difficulty in maintaining its sporting and financial success. One independent academic commentator said that, after such a period with such a leader, as a matter of course, the only way is down.

Now, of course, the timescale in the UK's case is much longer - centuries, in fact - but in a similar way, it is clear, its direction is no longer upwards. Far from the days of empire when it was enriched by the exploitation of a whole host of other countries, it now finds it difficult to maintain even a fraction of its former "glory", is confused, and reluctant to help itself by remaining within the European Union, seems oblivious to the need for reform, and is now threatened with the departure of two of its greatest props, most of its oil revenue and all of its illegal nuclear weapons.

Following St George's Day, maybe some thought should be given to coming to terms with a future UK taking a course more suited to its population size, and already-reduced military and economic power.

Michael F Troon,

15 Crawford Avenue,

Gauldry, Fife.

MARGARET Kay asks (Letters, April 22): "Who are the economic geniuses who will lead us all to the promised land?" A look at your chart showing the distribution of MSPs' could provide some clues ("What did your MSP do for a living before being elected to Holyrood?", The Herald, April 21).

I was surprised to note that the proportion of members employed in occupations such as finance, banking, accounting, business and economics was considerably higher on the SNP benches than those of the other parties. I am not suggesting that these occupations necessarily produce superior politicians, but it seems reasonable to suppose that it gives the Nationalists at least a shouting chance of success when it comes to economics. In fact all five of the MSPs who were previously economists to trade are in the SNP, including of course the First Minister himself, who has work experience in multiple industries.

Maggie Milne,

42 Thomson Street,

Dundee.

ON the basis that the BBC is a member of the CBI, and considering its founding principles, should it not be withdrawing its support from that organisation?

Bruce Moglia,

Horsewood Road,

Bridge of Weir.