Sir Tom Hunter speaks for us all, as far as I am concerned ("Sir Tom demands answers from the Yes and No camps", The Herald, May 10).
Day in, day out, I have this discussion with friends, family and neighbours to find we are all in Sir Tom's boat, drifting on the high seas wondering which way to turn. There is nothing of note to get excited about coming from one side or the other and the silence is now beginning to feel like contempt towards the electorate. Where is the passion, the interest, the reasoning? Where is the thought-provoking debate? I feel the independence issue was based on misplaced sentiment and discrimination, and has now run out of steam.
My memory of the only debate I recall thus far was some time ago where Ruth Davidson pulled the rug from under Nicola Sturgeon by waving a piece of paper in the air. It was written proof from someone on high in the European Parliament stating that no Scottish Government official had ever asked for or ever been given evidence that an independent Scotland would not have to renegotiate membership of the EU.
Up to that point Ms Sturgeon had been sure of her facts and her body language from then on said it all. How can we have confidence in the present Scottish Government's ability to negotiate anything if they cannot demonstrate the ability to see beyond the end of their collective noses?
Catherine Sengupta,
1 Greenwood Drive, Inverness.
Sir Tom Hunter has asked both the Yes and the No camps to come up with details about a post-referendum Scotland. He won't get them from either camp, for different reasons.
The answers to many of the questions being posed to the Yes side will depend in the short-term on negotiations with the UK Government and other agencies and in the long-term on which parties win power in the elections which follow independence.
The No side will never provide any answers because creating uncertainty is the whole basis for its campaign.
The UK Government won't state what it offers after a No vote. A non-specific promise is easier to break. Why would the UK Government strengthen the Scottish Parliament once Scotland has lost its leverage? If a Tory/Ukip coalition comes into power it will probably start dismantling our Parliament. A group of economists and academics from a range of universities has produced a blueprint for a "common weal", indicating the possibilities for an independent Scotland. The future offers no guarantees for Scotland, whether independent or within a declining UK. Independence is a prerequisite for achievable futures. It opens the door to the progressive, prosperous nation we can create.
Mary McCabe, 25 Circus Drive, Glasgow.
If recent opinion polls north and south of the Border in the wake of the Nigel Farage farrago are to be believed, it confirms something I have long thought. The English are more patriotic than the Scots.
We have cravenly done what southern toffs have told us, while singing Flower of Scotland. Who will be "sent homewards" this time? What was it Jim Callaghan said about turkeys and Christmas? Anyone for more stuffing?
Jim Morrison, 30 Pendicle Road, Bearsden.
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