IAIN Macwhirter writes of the time coming when those responsible for the current unsatisfactory circumstances prevailing at universities and colleges will be called to account ("Day of reckoning beckons over the student scandal", The Herald, September 30). The use of that phrase "day of reckoning" makes me reflect upon some other episodes in the life of Scotland under an SNP Government which have been subject to questioning.

When, for example, will the day of reckoning be with regard to the problems arising from education in Scottish schools with regard to how it is provided and what is taught?

When will the day of reckoning be with regard to the transfer of the elderly and frail from hospital to care homes during the pandemic?

When will the day of reckoning come with regard to problems associated with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and the delays in opening the Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh?

When will the day of reckoning come with regard to the inquiry into the failures of the Government to conduct an investigation, competently and legally, into the alleged behaviour of Alex Salmond?

When will the day of reckoning arrive into the takeover of the Ferguson Shipyard?

The answer to all of these questions is that the dates for findings and conclusions are not clear. However, one thing can be currently anticipated, and that is, that the findings are not likely to emerge before May 6, 2021. The calendar must be so full before that date that there is little room for anything else.

Ian W Thomson, Lenzie.

CONTRARY to Steph Johnson (Letters, September 30), I strongly agree with Mike Wilson (Letters, September 29), who is ashamed to admit his British nationality. Unfortunately, it was my great-grandmother, and not my grandmother, who immigrated to Scotland in the mid 19th century. That makes the connection too far back for me to claim an Irish passport.

We have various members of a Conservative Government, which does not represent the majority of Scottish voters (otherwise they would not be in the minority in the Scottish Parliament), having responsibility for the Windrush fiasco. We had a Home Sectetary by the name of Theresa May, putting messages on the side of buses telling immigrants to go home. We have Priti Patel, who came from Uganda when her family was deported by Idi Amin, trying to stop immigrants coming to Britain to escape wars caused by Britain's illegal invasion of Iraq.

We have an incompetent, mendacious, misogynist in power in Downing Street who cannot function without the assistance of an unelected functionary who should have gone to Specsavers.

Am I proud to be part of a Britain whose armies and navy went to every corner of the globe, raping and pillaging as they went? No, I am not. I write as one who voted against independence in 2014. I have since changed my mind and am now a supporter of throwing off the shackles of the corrupt, spent force of a failed state.

Margaret Forbes, Kilmacolm.

I WROTE recently to Nicola Sturgeon asking what in the event of Scottish independence the position would be of British citizens living in Scotland who choose not to adopt Scottish citizenship. In particular, would the rights currently enjoyed by British citizens living in Scotland be in any way compromised? The reply by a civil servant on her behalf was "in the event of independence, decisions relating to the shaping of citizenship policy would be for the government of the day to make”.

So she chooses to give no guarantees to people living in Scotland who do not identify as Scottish. This undermines her claim that Scottish nationalism is “civic” nationalism which has nothing to do with identity politics. As someone with a Welsh father, an English mother, and who has lived in Scotland since 1976, this makes me very nervous. It will certainly help me in deciding how to vote should there be another independence referendum.

Nick Williams, Auchenblae.

WHY do your pro-Union correspondents insist on conflating the competence or otherwise of the current Government with Scotland’s ability to flourish as an independent nation?

The SNP is a means to an end. As the only party of any size supporting an independent Scotland, independence-seeking Scots have no choice but to vote for it. Once independence has been achieved, all Scots will have the chance to elect a government which will be tasked with delivering on their winning manifesto.

If that is the SNP well and good, but it might well be Labour, Conservative or another.

The point is that whatever was decided, it would be Scotland's decision, made by us and us alone.

John McCallum, Glasgow G41.