ALEX Salmond has been saying ad nauseam that the only way of getting rid of a right-wing government at Westminster is by voting Yes in the referendum.

What about the right-wing government at Holyrood? What do you call a government that gives more taxpayers' money to the rich in many of its frontline policies? I call it right-wing. The council tax freeze, taxpayer-funded further education and free prescriptions for all benefit the rich who can well afford to pay for them.

Now it has been leaked that the SNP Government is planning to cut £450 million off the health budget, which is in complete contradiction to what they are claiming, namely that the NHS in Scotland is safe in their hands ("Warning £450m in NHS cutbacks will be needed over next two years", The Herald, September 16).

Also recently under the SNP's governance, 120,000 FE college places have been lost. This will have an adverse affect on the future prospects of our young people and the country. Mr Salmond said that independence would result in fewer young people leaving Scotland to seek employment. How can this be when they can't even get a college place to gain qualifications to be able to have a highly skilled job?

Wake up, Scotland. Don't be fooled by the likes of Mr Salmond and his pie-in-the-sky promises which he has still to negotiate if we are foolish enough to vote Yes.

The only way to create a fairer society and secure our future is to remain part of the UK, within the sterling zone, EU and Nato.

Gordon M Taylor,

14 Barra Avenue, Wishaw.

MY forebears were successive generations of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire miners. My mother played hockey for Scotland and both my children swam for Scotland. My mother and orphaned father both benefited from the enlightened Scottish bursary system and won places at Glasgow University in the 1920s. As a research physicist, Dad headed a top-secret radar research team in London during the war, collaborating with some of the best scientists in Britain to block German radar signals from locating our planes.

Having been born into this by-then privileged family, I believe passionately in social justice, the welfare state and a more equal society for everyone, including the disadvantaged in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We Scots should continue to use our considerable influence to fight for a better society for everyone, not just ourselves, and to contribute to a British team which will be much stronger together both at home and in international affairs.

Eileen Griffith,

Hill of Edinvale,

Dallas,

Forres.

I HAVE yet to hear, in detail, why those advocating the break-up of the United Kingdom think it is such a worthwhile idea, with the exception, of course, of the politicians at Holyrood, who would suddenly become big fish in a small pool. Most of what is being proposed is that as an independent nation, Scots would be better off at the expense of the rest of Britain. I find no comfort in this selfish proposal. I am equally concerned by the wellbeing of all who inhabit this small island, be they in Manchester, Huddersfield, or indeed London, just as much as Glasgow or Edinburgh. I cannot comprehend the difference (purely by accident of birth) in someone born north of the Border than someone born south of it.

We have been constantly told that as an independent country with oil reserves on our doorstep things will be rosy as we pursue an all-our-eggs-in-one-basket financial policy. These same reserves have been depleted and the output is still falling and even if we do find additional reserves in more inaccessible areas the cost of extraction will be high. And who is to say that the price of oil will not fall drastically, consequently making our expensively extracted oil very quickly become uneconomic? America will very soon become self-sufficient in oil and is expected within three years to become a net exporter, which will undoubtedly drastically alter the long-term price structure of the oil market.

Remember what happened to our once all-powerful coal industry. We still have hundreds of years of coal deposits sitting under our feet but it is now much cheaper to import it than dig it up; who is to say that could not also happen to "our" oil?

Over the past 300 years of our British entwined history we have fought together for social justice and equality and indeed died side by side with our fellow Britons against a common enemy, in particular during two world wars. That is the true adhesive which binds us together in the Union, not some vague promise that we would be financially better off on our own. The battle for social justice and equality will always be an ongoing one and I believe it can only be successfully pursued as a united people, not fragmenting into a clan-like group seeking only their own interests.

We should reflect and consider very carefully before we put that cross on our ballot paper as once we have chosen, the die will be cast, and there will be no turning back.

I would strongly advocate that we reject the self-seeking policy of those who are attempting to lead us into the promised land of uncertainty and that we continue to remain loyal to our fellow Britons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who respect our desire for more autonomy but who also need our continuing supportive strength within the Union to help maintain the fight for social justice, equality and prosperity for all.

JC Kelly,

17 Oswald Road,

Ayr.