With a new Cold War looming, US will call shots on Trident

Now maybe we have been too busy navel-gazing, but stuff is happening out there in the big world. This includes a resurgent Russia led by Mr Putin, now engaged in a standoff with Mr Obama over Ukraine. Ordinary folks can have little idea of what happens at these stratospheric diplomatic levels, but with the possibility of a revitalised Cold War, one can imagine that Mr Obama will have little patience with anything that diminishes Nato's clout with Moscow.

Trident is a US ballistic missile system and US permission is required for its launch. In confronting Mr Putin, Mr Obama will not want anything that weakens his position. He will not be happy with an ally whose contribution to deterrence and the reliability of its crucial strategic position could be threatened by Westminster/Holyrood friction. He will no doubt have made his feelings clear to Mr Cameron and independent Scotland's use of the pound will probably seem like a petty squabble to him. US says "Jump", London says "How high?".

Jim Morrison,

30 Pendicle Road, Bearsden.

History is not about what might have been: that is historical fiction. Although he completely misinterpreted it, I am glad that Bill Brown (Letters, March 29) agreed with the fact that Scottish Home Rule was abandoned after the Great War, despite Scotland sacrificing a greater percentage of men than any of other parts of these islands or the British Empire.

The reality of poverty in Scotland and lack of opportunities in the early 1970s informed my decision to advocate independence. History led me to conclude that the only people who should decide to what wars the citizens of Scotland must go should be the people of an independent Scotland, through a democratically elected parliament. This view was reinforced when Scotland had to participate in Mr Bush and Mr Blair's Iraq war.

Colin Campbell

Braeside, Shuttle Street,

Kilbarchan.

The more I read the utterings of politicians, the more I come to realise they must be living in a parallel universe. In The Herald on Friday, Nick Clegg says "we are all stronger together and poorer apart" ("SNP blast at Alexander No-vote speech", The Herald, March 28). I would say the opposite. "This is about more than numbers - this referendum is about capturing imaginations." I could go along with that. "The prospect of remaining in the UK must be just as thrilling as the drama of leaving it." My fingers are beginning to tingle. "Rejecting independence will not be choosing the status quo." He's beginning to lose me now. "It must, I believe, be a giant leap towards our longheld liberal vision: home rule." What does that mean? Home rule in the event of a No vote?

Hold on a minute. The Liberals have been carping on since immediately after the First World War, when home rule was supported by them and the burgeoning socialist movement. It was based on a desire for greater control of Scottish economic resources. All bets were off when, after the last General Election, they could hardly believe their luck to suddenly find themselves at the seat of power in a coalition. He then goes on to hint that Unionist parties are coming closer to broad agreement on extra devolution powers in the event of a No vote. I have a plaque on my shed door that says "Free beer here tomorrow".

Blair Jenkins is right in saying that the Liberal Democrats are feeling the pressure of the campaign. So the question is: famous as they are for sitting on the fence, when it comes to the crunch, which way will they jump?

Ian McDonald,

2 Stuarthill Drive,

Maryburgh, Ross-shire.

The negative campaigning of the No side to date has frankly been insulting to the intelligence of the Scots people. I, like many others, am still undecided. Please can the No campaign provide positive and aspirational arguments as to why Scotland should vote to stay in the Union? Otherwise, I will not stay undecided for much longer.

Bob Downie,

66 Mansewood Road, Glasgow.

In a week that featured Lord Steel's warning on unproductive SNP bashing and Danny Alexander's "watch the clock" comment, there was no reported comment on Tuesday evening's debate between Jim Sillars and George Galloway. Considering the publicity both have understandably attracted over the years the bout between these former socialist heavyweights proved a worthy event.

Neither talked over or down to the other. Jim Sillars concisely conveyed his views, emphasising the importance of the referendum outcome for Scotland's future generations. Equally so, in his usual caustically charged rhetoric, George Galloway spoke of the advantages of remaining within the UK.

In a final flash of humour so often lacking in matters political, George conceded he would vote for Jim if such a scenario arose. The response was somewhat less warm when Jim indicated his opponent was merely a one-man band and an English MP at that. Regardless, it was nice to hear the arguments of both sides expressed in the accents of two politically seasoned indigenous Scots.

Allan C Steele,

22 Forres Avenue,

Giffnock.

DISCUSSION of pensions is a favourite ploy to frighten folk from voting Yes for independence. This is proved by the more frequent warnings about impoverishment and destitution if we in Scotland choose self-government. Never mind that the recurring message from Westminster governments goes on being one about the need for austerity. Austerity has been the watchword of nearly every London government there has been in living memory, whether Labour, Tory, or the mix we have at present.

We should worry about forecasts of destitution - we've lived our entire lives with the threat of it! Our history teems with it. In this contrived commemorative year of the First World War, so many of us have forefathers and ancestral uncles whose impoverished lives in underpaid farm work, unregulated factory toil, subsistence fishing etc spurred them to exchange their domestic humdrum for the trenches of Europe, where they perished in disproportionate numbers.

Another popular ploy is that independence has nothing to do with the SNP. It has everything to do with the SNP. Promises of home rule by Liberals and Labourites proved as bogus as Lord Haig's posters Your Country Needs You. A country that neither needed those who died nor those who didn't, because the latter returned to yet another future of austerity. Had we depended on parties other than the SNP to deliver the opportunity to be an independent self-governing country, we'd be as well filling our bodies with candy fluff for nourishment.

Ian Johnstone,

84 Forman Drive, Peterhead.