ALEX Gallagher (Letters, January 29) fails to appreciate that decisions can be made for negative, as well as positive, reasons. Economists speak of the “optimal solution” – the single best outcome. However, in reality often we have to make choices between sup-optimal solutions, which are not in every respect as good as we would want, but the best available. They might even be described as “the best worst solution”.

Councillor Gallagher then rummages through the Better Together ragbag of reasons for Scotland not to be independent (itself an exercise in negativity). I particularly liked the claim we would lose the “£15 billion annual transfer from the UK to Scotland” which is of course derived from GERS, so taken from a document which says itself that it “addresses three questions about Scotland’s public sector finances under the current constitutional arrangements” (it’s on page 2, so not too difficult to find).

Then there are the usual absolutely guaranteed, don’t even bother arguing with me, certainties, such as “we would be out of the EU as well, so no relief there. WTO here we come”. I hate to burst his balloon, but given the present direction of UK travel it is certainly possible that’s where we will be at the beginning of April. But in any event, how difficult would it be for Scotland – a country fully consistent with EU laws and so on – to rejoin?

Then there is Councillor Gallagher’s use of Brexit to argue against Scottish independence as if the two are fully comparable. One of the problems with Brexit has been that the UK wants to leave such as freedom of movement, the authority of the European Court of Justice, while having full and free access to the EU’s single market, have frictionless trade etc. This might even be characterised as wanting to leave the EU, not follow its rules, but still enjoy the privileges of membership. In contrast, where Scottish independence is concerned the clue is in the aim – independence. It's not as if the aim is to be independent of the UK, but to continue to secure all the benefits that there might be. A comparative analogy might be that the UK wants to leave the EU’s golf club, but still nip on for 18 holes, while Scotland plans to set up its own golf club apart from the UK. Or, just remain in the EU’s golf club?

Where I can agree with Councillor Gallagher is that there should be a positive case for independence, and I think there is one. However, realistic politics can just as well be based on the negative assertion that one outcome is worse than the alternative. Given that his own letter seems to accept “Brexit is stupidity on stilts, that the Tories are indeed malevolent, and that Labour has failed to deliver clear leadership on the way forward for the UK”, I am surprised and disappointed that he doesn’t agree.

Alasdair Galloway,

14 Silverton Avenue, Dumbarton.

LABOUR Councillor Alex Gallagher complains that Kevin McKenna ("Independence is no loner a nice idea, it's a necessity", The Herald, January 29) hasn't made a positive case for independence, but Councillor Gallagher has hardly made a positive case for the Union, admitting that "Brexit is stupidity on stilts, the Tories are indeed malevolent and that Labour has failed to deliver clear leadership on the way forward for the UK". However, Councillor Gallagher appears to think that wallowing impotently in an increasingly dysfunctional UK is preferable to Scotland taking its future into its own hands, respecting the result of the EU referendum in Scotland and participating as an independent nation within the EU.

He asserts that Scotland would be out of the EU, but given that they have had decades of dealing with reluctant UK governments, it must seem like a breath of fresh air to Europe that Scotland voted so enthusiastically to remain, and the oil-rich nation of Scotland would surely be considered a welcome addition to the European Union. There are plenty of examples of countries which have successfully gained their independence, and the solid support which the EU has shown Ireland in these Brexit negotiations is in marked contrast to the lack of recognition the UK Government has shown to Scotland's expressed preference to remain within the EU. We are certainly not considered as an equal partner in the UK, but neither are we a prisoner of the UK, and it is up to us to mak siccar that we are not treated as one.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.

READING Alex Gallagher's letter today with its long list of factors which would make Scottish independence a near impossibility, I am left wondering how any nation which is not in a union with England can possibly survive.

Perhaps I will have to ask my Norwegian, Danish and Finnish acquaintances, of which I have a few, just how on earth they manage.

John Jamieson,

60 Craigie Road, Ayr.

ALEX Gallagher could have extended his letter to include the high cost of energy in an independent Scotland. Currently English consumers pay 92 per cent of renewable energy costs but the break-up of the UK grid would result in the infrastructure bill of around £300 billion to achieve zero emission targets would have to be met solely by Scottish consumers. That would be a devastating blow to the 35 per cent of Scots living in fuel poverty.

Ian Moir,

79 Queen Street, Castle Douglas.

THE SNP is wise to distance itself from ex-SNP MSP George Kerevan's call for adopting a “strategy of tension and parliamentary obstruction" by SNP MPs ("Former SNP MP urges Tube blockade to get Indyref2", The Herald, January 29).

His idea is to abandon constitutional process in favour of a "revolutionary" approach which could lead to an illegal, Catalan-style referendum. In order to further fuel the current political chaos he suggests deliberately choosing the height of the Brexit crisis to provoke Downing Street into vetoing a fresh Section 30 order and to use the resulting sense of perceived injustice to stage a “phased escalation of public civil disobedience“.

Asking for the sake of being rejected and then kicking up fuss – one might be forgiven for thinking that this is the fantasy of a stroppy teenager rebelling against his parents. Sadly, it's the brainchild of a grown man who has left all sense and sensibility behind.

Regina Erich,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

SALAD shortage as a result of a no-deal Brexit ("Retailers warn of 'no deal' empty shelves,", The Herald, January 29). Freedom of movement stopped. UK nationals unwilling to take on physically demanding jobs in the fields and abattoirs. A recipe for yet more obesity. Is it a conspiracy? I think not.

Dr Philip Gaskell,

Woodlands Lodge , Buchanan Castle Estate , Drymen.

Read more: Independence could only add to the nation's woes