THE parting message of Sarah Smith speaks volumes about the state of public discourse in Scotland today, as does your editorial on the same subject ("It is time to clamp down on the abuse on all sides", The Herald, February 19).

It is deplorable that some SNP politicians and cheerleaders amongst your correspondents on these pages have chosen to double down on the abuse that she received, but ultimately this reaction was to be expected. At the same time, it worth remembering that a different Scotland is possible and indeed in 2014 was within reach.

What was needed was for the losing side to accept the outcome of the referendum as a Once In A Generation event and for the Scottish Government to set out on a path of governance based on achieving a Scotland at ease with that outcome and itself. It would not have been easy and would have required real leadership from the First Minister and the co-operation of other parties, but as a national mission that work would have been well worth it. A good start might have been the sort of cross-party Team Scotland arrangements that Alex Salmond proposed in the event of a Yes vote. In addition the SNP leadership could have proposed that their party suspend Clause 2a of its constitution (the bit about independence) and declared its commitment to Clause 2b ("the furtherance of all Scottish interests"). Who could disagree that national unity and harmony based on the outcome of a free and fair referendum is ultimately in the greater Scottish interest?

Instead, Nicola Sturgeon deliberately turned her face against the outcome of her government's referendum and chose the path of ever deeper and ever more bitter division and strife. Far from seeking national unity, she could not even be bothered to attend a church service organised to promote reconciliation. One only needs to see the the denigration of commentators such as Sarah Smith and the partisan dismissal of the best available evidence (for example, the Scottish Government's GERS publication or the recent Fraser of Allander report on pensions) to witness the results of that decision.

The Scotland that we have today was created by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. We can only dream of what could be achieved if they worked as hard at creating unity as they have at creating division. They should never be forgiven for what they have inflicted on us.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.

ABUSING THE FIRST MINISTER

BEING of a certain age, I am fortunate not to be privy to the goings-on in social media platforms except through the likes of The Herald and various other traditional news outlets. Personally, in the unlikely event that I was involved in the same way, I would treat any inappropriate responses with contempt. Sarah Smith strikes me as being well able to take care of herself in this respect and I suspect that her impending departure to the United States is purely a good career move.

I presume that Jill Stephenson (Letters, February 19) is including herself as one of your better-educated readers and, as such, she should be aware that the meaning of words is all about context. Having examined Ms Smith's comments regarding Nicola Sturgeon "enjoying" the extra powers in relation to the pandemic and studied my Collins dictionary, I can only describe her use of the description was at best an unfortunate choice of word. Also, there is a lack of subtlety in her description of her detractors and she would have been more honest to openly criticise some parts of the supporters of independence.

No decent person can excuse the vitriol reported regularly in media sources but Ms Stephenson is deluding herself if she thinks such remarks are one-sided. While not being involved in these exchanges, I have overheard Ms Sturgeon being subjected to misogynistic and sometimes venomous comment from older men of my acquaintance who should know better.

Gordon Evans, Glasgow.

BBC ALWAYS PUTS ENGLAND FIRST

THE point missing in the stooshie over Sarah Smith is that Scotland isn’t represented by the British Broadcasting Corporation. It doesn’t really matter who the Scotland political editor is because the organisation always has to put England first.

Former BBC Scotland correspondent Kenneth MacDonald said the BBC dropped the ball with its 2014 referendum coverage and this was because of colleagues from England. The BBC admitted it alienated independence supporters but still has not explained what it’s doing to win back their trust.

When you listen to the BBC news, it’s about England, not Scotland. That’s because 84 per cent of the population lives down south. Power and network commissioning is all centred in England. And it’s well known that the BBC doesn’t spend as much in Scotland as it takes in licence fees. As in the Union, Scotland will never be an equal citizen in the BBC orbit. You lose if you are born in a Celtic nation.

The BBC has helped separate Scotland from rUK, as has Brexit and nearly 70 years of enduring a Westminster Government Scots did not elect.

Once Scotland regains its independence, it needs to establish a Scottish Public Broadcasting Corporation to reflect the diversity of opinion, culture and dynamism within Scotland.

I’m certain most Scots wish Sarah Smith well in her new position covering the US. I just hope she develops a thicker skin, because over there, she’ll need it.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh.

COULD SCOTLAND EMULATE TEAM GB?

IT was an uplifting experience towards the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing to be proud to be Scottish and British, as many are, with the men’s curling team, led by Bruce Mouat, winning silver and the women’s team, led by Eve Muirhead, winning gold ("Triumph and tears as Muirhead leads Team GB curlers to gold medal glory", The Herald, February 21). One was made proud not only by the sporting prowess of the two curling teams, but also by their demeanour.

Team GB received £28 million from lottery money and part of that was allocated to curling, which no doubt helped the curlers to reach the high standard of play required to be successful at the top levels. While the expenditure on curling was more than justified by the results, that on some other sports was much less so. In Your Guide To An Independent Scotland Scotland’s Future, published in advance of the 2014 Referendum, the SNP stated: "On independence the National Lottery will continue to operate in Scotland. People will still be able to play National Lottery games, and the infrastructure enabling them to do so will remain in place" and further: "We will ensure that Scotland continues to receive our fair share of funding from the National Lottery."

Is the SNP, in advance of the admittedly-unlikely event of there being a second independence referendum any time soon, likely to provide assurance, come independence, that adequate funding will be available not only to encourage young people to take up sport and to improve their talents, but also to develop the skills of those with the talent to perform in the top ranks internationally as recently displayed by the Team GB curling teams?

Ian W Thomson, Lenzie.

* AS we enthusiastically congratulate Scotland’s curlers for amazingly delivering gold and silver medals at the Beijing Winter Olympics, which represented GB’s total of two medals, we should also congratulate overall winners Norway.

With a similar population to Scotland, the Norwegians miraculously amassed a total of 37 medals with 16 gold medals, being four more than Germany, seven more than China, and eight more than the United States. Regrettably and perhaps unsurprisingly given the poor performance of GB overall, the BBC and most of the UK mainstream media provided few, if any, updates on the medal table, in stark contrast to coverage of the Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Rio and London. More importantly, Norway’s hugely better performance raises questions about the financial support for UK sports, and in particular whether the limited and selectively targeted support provided through Lottery funds is sufficient, not only to help win medals across a greater number of sports but to significantly boost participation levels across all sports, especially those sports where at present there may be few prospects of winning medals.

As we all wish for our planet to be made more habitable and we strive as individuals to become fitter and healthier, is it not time for the UK Government to commit more of its resources to maximising the wellbeing of all of its citizens rather than to maximising the profits of wealthy friends and party donors?

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

IN POWER TO STAY?

THERE have been a number of letters saying that, objective achieved, the SNP will dissipate like snow aff a dyke. I can't think of any countries in the last 70 years where, on gaining independence, the winner did not remain in power, often for many years.

Alistair Tuach, Dumbarton.

Read more: Shame on the SNP for its ignorant stance on nuclear power