IN her obituary on Iain Banks, Rosemary Goring writes that he was in favour of independence, while stressing that he was not "nationalist-minded" (The Herald, June 10).

Considering the horrendous ambiguity of the word nationalist, this qualification is understandable.

Thus: Nelson Mandela was a nationalist, as was Steve Biko and Walter Sisulu. But Slobodan Milosovic was also a nationalist, as was Radovan Karadic and Ratko Mladic. Hitler was a nationalist – and so was Jan Masaryk. The word covers such a huge and contradictory range, that it is practically meaningless politically. I personally avoid it for this reason.

Iain Banks's belief in a "socialist or communitarian Scotland" is perfectly in line with the noble traditions of those who have sought Scottish independence, or "nationalism" in the positive sense. This was the inspiration behind the radical martyrs of 1820: Baird, Hardy, and Wilson. Thomas Muir of Huntershill, Robert Burns, James Thomson Callender, John MacLean, R B Cunningham Graham, Keir Hardie, Tom Johnston and James Maxton all supported independence.

As Bob Thompson said at Jimmy Reid's funeral, "you cannot be an internationalist without being an inter-nationalist"; that is, recognising and respecting national identity as being one of the defining aspects of a person.

We must acknowledge the right of nations states to exist in freedom and independence. But the British state has never operated on this basis. It was founded on the imperialistic absorption of Scotland and all the other colonies that made up the British empire. Most of these have now gained independence.

Will we find the courage next year to say yes to the vision Iain Banks shared with so many before him, or will we continue in the Blairite/Thatcherite, nuclear-armed, Great British state? That is the choice before us.

Brian M Quail,

2 Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow.

HOW ironic to read Iain Banks's striking phrase, "I shall not miss the institutionalised servility that is the worship of the royals..." on the same day that we hear that a 500-year-old Scottish university is thrilled to have the Duchess of Rothesay as it first female chancellor, a woman of no academic merit who has achieved nothing by her own efforts other than a marriage contracted in a dubious relationship.

What message do we send out regarding the value of intellectual endeavour or hard work and intelligence.

Dr Gaye MacGillivray,

8 Camuscross, Isle of Skye.

PERHAPs a fitting tribute to the wonderful Iain Banks, would be if BBC Scotland were to repeat the TV adaptation of his novel The Crow Road.I for one would forgo 10 episodes of Waterloo Road, for just one showing of The Crow Road.

Sheila Duffy,

3 Hamilton Drive,

Glasgow.