Jackson Cullinane and other senior Labour figures are wise to question the official Labour attitude to the referendum (Labour can't stick working with toxic Better Together, News, November 17).
In terms of Scottish seats at UK General Elections, the Tories drew once, in 1951, and won once, by one vote, in 1955, yet from the 15 General Elections since 1945 the Tories have formed eight administrations.
In 2010, Gordon Brown asked for and got support from all parties in Scotland, except the single Tory, to keep the Tories out, but it was not enough. The English vote decided. That level of support in Scotland can never be surpassed, so voting Labour in UK General Elections leaves the decision up to the English.
There is talk of greater powers for the Scottish Parliament if we vote No in the referendum. This is eye-wash. We have given the establishment a fright, and they will react. They will reduce the numbers, and the powers, of Scottish MPs at Westminster, and also the powers and finance of the Scottish Parliament.
If Labour vote Yes in the referendum, Scotland will get the governments it elects.
John Smart
Lossiemouth
It is disingenuous of the former UK chancellor, Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together campaign, to continually refer to the Nationalists as the wicked purveyors of Scottish independence. He knows perfectly well that the Yes campaign contains quality people, not only from the SNP but also from the Liberal Democrats, Socialists, Greens and, indeed, from his own fractious Labour Party. Scotland needs no lectures from this London-based establishment figure.
The London-based Institute for Fiscal Studies' premise that an independent Scotland would be worse off because of its ageing population, is surely missing the point. England, with a population of nearly 54 million, is in a much greater danger from the ageing scenario.
Furthermore, John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Secretary, would transform the economic performance of an independent Scotland, precisely because decision-making would be made daily in Edinburgh and not in London where obviously decisions would reflect the greater needs of England and the UK.
However, in the pro-Union Better Together campaign there are serious divisions appearing in their leadership structure. The Scottish Labour chairman, Jackson Cullinane, has admitted that many Labour activists "cannot stomach" working alongside the Tories. Maybe this is why the new Scottish Secretary, the belligerent Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, plans to "put the fear of God" into David Cameron, as he fears next year's independence referendum could be lost to the Yes campaign. One thing is certain: this unholy alliance will surely come back to haunt both New Labour and the LibDems in future electoral terms.
Grant Frazer
Newtonmore
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