IT is disappointing, and not a little insulting, to see correspondents such as John Jamieson (Letters, March 16) ascribe a reluctance to plunge into independence to "fear". It would benefit us all, and perhaps replace some of the heat of debate with light, if Mr Jamieson and others could recognise the difference between caution, even apprehension, and fear.

If there is fear, Neil Mackay summarised plausible reasons for it in his article ("Just admit indy is over for now and get on with government", The Herald, March 15): why should we be confident in trusting such an enormous decision, with all the huge uncertainties (currency, wider monetary policy and the like) to people who have yet to show the basic governmental and managerial competence they claim and we are all entitled to expect?

As Mr Mackay says: get that right first and then we'll see how much more we trust you with.

Brian Chrystal, Edinburgh.

SUPERMAJORITY WOULD BE FAIR

AS a supporter of independence for Scotland, I do not consider a referendum result of 50% + 1 as being a satisfactory outcome for such major constitutional change, a point made by Jim Meikle (Letters, March 16). Previous letters on the topic appear to favour somewhere between 60 per cent and a two-thirds majority of those voting, and deep down I cannot really disagree with that provided no additional hurdles are put in the way.

It is also high time unionists stopped harping on about the “overwhelming” result for the No side in the referendum of 2014. A two-thirds majority in favour of the Union would have been a result of 66.6% instead of the somewhat lowly 55% achieved for the status quo and obviously 45% for the losers. Statistics can be moulded to any argument and if we look at actual votes rather than percentages in the 2014 referendum, figures show that had only 191,969 more votes been cast for Yes than No, the result would have been for independence by one vote. Little wonder unionists were and are worried, especially as a new independence campaign is yet to start.

Alan M Morris, Blanefield.

BREXIT DAMAGE IS STILL EVIDENT

THE excellent Ian McConnell hits the mark with his revealing article on the grim reality of Brexit and the scale of the damage to exporters and trade (" Hot air will not make grim Brexit trade reality float off", The Herald, March 16). Astonishingly, we are constantly being assured by Boris Johnson and his ministers that Brexit has been a great success. The fact that the almost Soviet-sounding title of Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency has been awarded to Jacob Rees-Mogg, nicknamed the MP for the 18th Century, speaks volumes.

Mr McConnell rightly points out that "companies and consumers have had to become used to a lack of availability, delays in getting materials and parts, and higher prices for the things they can buy". I know of at least one major retailer which in March is receiving deliveries of stock which were supposed to have arrived before Christmas.

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

ENERGY GIANTS SHOULD LEVEL DOWN

I AM delighted to see that the UK Government is willing to support not only The Herald by paying for today’s “Levelling Up” cover (March 16), but also Scotland’s recycling aspirations by so efficiently topping up our blue bins.

Within its inane covers, in the true tradition of trite Tory mantras, “Levelling Up” contrives to achieve a neatly-rounded 10-pronged aspiration. Number Four boasts “a £26bn boost for the green industrial revolution”. Apart from the oxymoronic challenge of the language, the number rang a bell – double-digit billions of pounds. It echoes recent energy giant profits: over 2021, ExxonMobil turned a £1.4bn loss into a £23bn profit; Shell has raised its £4.8bn to £19.3bn; BP from £5.8bn to £12.8bn; the “Big Six” British energy suppliers’ profits in 2020 (before the huge increase last year) were already over £3bn.

While our population faces unprecedented increases in energy costs, unprecedented profits from such polluters might have merited a “green industrial” windfall tax to ease our 50% hit. After all, Emmanuel Macron has instructed Eon to limit increased domestic charges to four per cent in France. But no, Boris Johnson deems that we have to cover costs.

Keith Reid, Blairgowrie.

* YOUR four-page advertisement for Levelling Up was a bit alarming: I thought UK Government civil servants would at least have a decent grasp of English. We had “more people owning their own homes – and much more to make a real difference to our everyday lives” printed twice in the same sentence. Perhaps an extended example of epizeuxis; more likely just sloppiness. I’m not even sure that more home ownership, as encouraged by Margaret Thatcher, is automatically good, and I note that it’s followed by a plug for “a thriving private sector”.

Elsewhere in the puff from gov.uk we had “Levelling Up means not only having more, but better skilled jobs”. Having more of what? And then there is “the £150m Community Ownership Fund which gives people over the UK to protect and take over local assets…” I think I know what they mean, but it’s not written in the English taught by the redoubtable Doc Forrest at Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen.

Feedback for the “UK Government Scotland”, as it styles itself: A poor effort, with little attention to detail; must do better.

Doug Maughan, Dunblane.

STOP BACKING SAUDI REGIME

EIGHTY-ONE men are killed in one day by the Saudi Arabian regime under Prince Mohammed bin Salman with no condemnation by Boris Johnson and his Tory Government about these executions, due process violations or torture-extracted confessions ("PM Johnson urged to cancel visit to Saudia Arabia after 81 men are executed", The Herald, March 15). Instead he goes cap in hand to this dictatorship to plead for more oil to be produced to help the British economy.

There will be no mention by Mr Johnson and his cronies about the arbitrary arrests and executions of 41 Shia Muslims among the above by the Saudi regime which has a record of persecution of this group. There will be no mark of respect for the lives stolen away like Aqeel Al-Faraj, Mortada al-Musa, Yasin al-Brahim, Mohammed al-Shakhouri , Asad Al-Shibr and others with relatives only belatedly finding out about their deaths and not knowing were they are buried.

The invasion of Ukraine is a heinous crime condemned correctly by the British Government, but the unconditional support by that same Government of the brutal Saudi regime that tortures and kills their own people amounts to double standards.

Sean Clerkin, Barrhead.

SALUTE COURAGE OF JOURNALISTS

THE horrific events being reported daily from Ukraine continue to shock and disgust. However, as the BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville points out, if we are surprised at the carnage and destruction that Vladimir Putin has unleashed upon the innocent, then we have not been paying attention. This is what Russian military forces do, whether in Georgia, Chechnya, Syria or now Ukraine.

The grim news that two Fox News journalists and a US film maker have lost their lives in the country ("Tributes as Fox News cameraman loses life", The Herald, March 16) reminds us that one of the pillars of democracy, freedom of speech, comes at a heavy price. Make no mistake, those who honestly report what is happening in areas of conflict are seen as targets by President Putin and his ilk. Marie Colvin, for example, was assassinated in a rocket attack in Syria by a government which disapproved of her journalism. The courage of Quentin Sommerville, Lyse Doucet, Lindsey Hilsum, Jeremy Bowen and others who keep us accurately informed about this war should not be underestimated, nor taken for granted.

Bob Scott, Drymen.

HAVE FACE MASKS BEEN WORKING?

NICOLA Sturgeon has delayed the plan to relax the legal requirement to wear masks in certain settings, because of, she says, “the current spike in case numbers” (“End to face masks delayed as free tests rolled back from April”, The Herald, March 16). But doesn't this spike suggest that masks haven't been working?

Geoff Moore, Alness.

* APPARENTLY Scotland's higher infection rates are, according to John Swinney, because we are "ahead of the curve" but this necessitating a further two weeks of mask wearing.

I've just returned from France, Netherlands and Italy, where they insist on you wearing FFP2 Medical Grade masks and consider cloth masks to be in the category of chocolate teapots.

The First Minister might need to upgrade her natty tartan face coverings if she is to re-enter the EU.

Ian McNair, Cellardyke.

Read more: We have to convince Putin that the West does have a red line