I NOTE that a suggestion has been made that SNP MSPs may form a pro-independence alliance with other political parties to split the Unionist vote at future elections ("MSPs may form pro-independence alliance", The Herald, September 22).

Reciprocal strategic voting by Unionists might result in a defeat for the SNP, producing a coalition government in Scotland more interested in serving the people's needs and aspirations in real life than pursuing a path that was turned down by a large majority of the voting public.

The best thing to come out of the independence referendum, directly attributable to the efforts of the SNP, is the increased number of people registered on the voters' rolls.

There are now more voters available (and traceable) to take on board our civic duties to pay taxes to fund services and welfare, collection of which is to be transferred to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government could have varied the rate of tax in Scotland by powers already held by them, but for political reasons it chose not to do so. The SNP Government has never collected taxes and so has avoided the deep unpopularity of all tax-collecting governments.

The Unionists have had a wake-up call politically and they won't be put back in the bottle either. They came out in force and voted without any celebrity-style fuss.

They have noted the inability to accept the result of a democratic vote, and they won't be casual about using their votes in future elections.

Mrs M Stewart,

143a Alexandra Parade,

Dunoon.

SO now we are beginning to see the reality of the No vote in the referendum. As soon as Friday evening, extreme right-wing thugs were attacking peaceful protesters in George Square. It was obscene that certain media outlets used footage from the London riots to inflame (pun intended) the story.

It was not only Andy Murray who received vile abuse for supporting a Yes vote. I am aware of many people who expressed their views in various public forums who have been attacked by those self-same morons who spew their bile while hiding behind the cowardice of anonymity.

The inevitable collapse of the fantasy timetable of Gordon Brown's invention and the breaking of the vow by the three party leaders have already led to the strategy of each Westminster party absolving themselves of any culpability for the failure and blaming the other parties just as normal. Just to make sure we know our new place, Jack Straw proposes making independence for Scotland illegal.

This is not the time for people to disengage from politics and revert to apathy. There is no more important time than now to stand up and work for the betterment of all citizens, not just the privileged few. Let there be no doubt that the new playbook of the Better Together leaders is straight out of The Prince. To paraphrase Machiavelli,"if the ultimate end is the supremacy of Westminster, the end would justify the means".

David Stubley,

22 Templeton Crescent,

Prestwick.