PETER A Russell (Letters, December 18) has crossed a line with his extremely offensive and hurtful suggestion that people who support Scottish independence cannot be Christians. As someone who has English and Irish blood in my veins and is very proud of the fact, I can assure Mr Russell that I see no contradiction in believing in Scottish self-determination and loving my neighbours in the other nations of the UK. Furthermore, Mr Russell does his party no favours by perpetuating the myth that Scotland stands with her begging bowl ready to receive scraps from London and the south-east; if Scotland hadn't been lied to for decades by Westminster governments we could have reaped the benefits of more than 40 years of oil revenues as an independent nation, and in 1999 a Labour Government would not have been able to re-classify 6,000 square miles of Scottish sea as English waters, in order that huge oil fields would become part of English territory.

As for Labour members not supporting independence, that of course is entirely a matter for them. But I would remind Mr Russell that when he came to Scotland 30 years ago the Labour Party dominated the Scottish political scene; now it has a handful of MPs and is the third party in the Scottish Parliament with the SNP capturing many of its heartlands, in part because Labour in Scotland has failed to evolve and appreciate that in 2014 many Labour voters supported independence, and they continue to do so. I must say I was struck by Mr Russell's description of members of the Labour for Independence group as a "bunch of nobodies", and thought it a very un-Christian remark to make.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.

PETER A Russell tells us that he cannot understand how anyone who claims to be a Christian, because Christianity requires common endeavour and mutual support, can also believe in independence. Similarly, have sometimes thought that no-one who votes Tory can possibly be a Christian. We're both wrong of course.

My neighbour and I co-operate by, for example, putting out each other's bins, but he doesn't control my household budget nor I his.

Mr Russell goes on to suggest that for the time being at least Scotland is on the receiving end of a co-operative UK. It depends on your time perspective I suppose but I think if measured over the last 50 years Scotland would be seen as a net contributor, let’s not even mention Scotland's long-erm contribution to the UK's intellectual life and its disproportionate contribution to wars and Empire.

Oh, and I'm an atheist by the way.

John Jamieson,

60 Craigie Road, Ayr.

PETER Russell again confirms the branch office mentality of the Labour Party in Scotland – a party where a General Election is more important than the looming Brexit. He fails to follow his own logic in that by leaving the UK and rejoining the EU, Scotland would indeed achieve "by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone".

His argument is undermined by the Labour Party's underwhelming position on Brexit. I do think he is in denial and wish him all the best in reconciling his Christian beliefs.

Dr Martin Buchan,

7 Torr Avenue, Quarriers Village, Inverclyde.

PETER Russell does not understand how any Christian can reconcile the idea of loving your neighbour and independence. Perhaps if he thought a little deeper he might understand that loving your neighbour does not mean accepting domination by him. It means giving him the respect you expect to receive from him in return.

Cravenly accepting a situation where you are permanently rendered powerless by an inbuilt majority is not Christianity. In fact, it is the very opposite. The concept of subsidiarity is crucial to Christian social teaching. This means power should be surrendered to the lowest level possible.

Even more grotesque is the notion of any kind of adherence to the principles taught by Jesus and being complicit in preparing to use the world’s most powerful machine for the mass killing of human beings.

Trident is the worst thing in the world. It devastates every moral and legal code. This blasphemy is the price we pay for our devotion to British nationalism. The sooner we escape from this nightmare the better for us, and for our neighbours throughout the world. I don’t understand why Mr Russell and his unionist friends don’t see this.

Brian M Quail,

2 Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow.

READING your article on the Labour motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister ("Corbyn tables no-confidence vote in the PM", The Herald, December 18) left me wondering if the Labour Party really has so little faith in itself and the voters that it is making Theresa May the scapegoat for Brexit and prepared to give its backing to the Tory Party over its handling of Brexit.

The Labour Party is so divided and lacking in ideas that it is now reduced to gesture politics, not even willing to launch a challenge in Parliament that could lead to a General Election.

What a pity that Labour can't show the same unity, enthusiasm and determination fighting this Tory Government as it did fighting against more devolved powers to Holyrood during the Smith Commission debates in Westminster.

John Jamieson,

37 Echline Place, South Queensferry, West Lothian.

IAN R Mitchell (Letters, December 17) criticises me for my "views" on the Labour Party and Ireland. I do have views on that subject, but they have as yet to appear in The Herald on December 11 or any other date. Mr Mitchell was at least right about December 11 and the fact that I appeared in the Letters Pages. However, my subject was related to the Conservative Party and its failure to cover itself in glory over the Suez episode many years ago. I will leave it to David McEwan Hill, if he is so minded, to respond to the criticism by Mr Mitchell of what were in fact his views wrongly represented as mine.

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.

BACK in the 1930s we primary school kids learned the rhyme, "Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, All tied up with monkey's tails". This is how we learned about the four nations of the UK.

Before we citizens vote again we should be clear about the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. Apart from the UK, there are 54 countries in the Commonwealth and 14 places, mainly islands of British Overseas Territories. Also, between them, Britain and Ireland have more than 6,000 islands.

We are the islands race protected by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, however we could never have won two world wars without the Commonwealth troops and our allies.

This letter was prompted by the following conversation:

"Oh, so you want to be separate from the Irish and the Welsh?"

"No, we want to split from the English".

I Lennie,

Flat 3, 11, Clarence Street,

Edinburgh.