A number of your letters recently have tried to address the question of Scottish independence, by being firmly on one side or the other.
My own view is that I am a unionist, but could be persuaded to vote for independence if certain questions are answered.
I obtained and read Scotland's Future, the White Paper published on November 26, 2013, which laid out the case for, and the means by which, we would become independent.
It was described at the time by its detractors as variously being a work of fiction, uncosted, and promoting uncertainty.
From my perspective, I read and dissected every section, after which I had a list of questions. There was one question that was however, common to every section, that being "How?"
With that question never being answered during the subsequent referendum campaign, I voted No.
The more recent document, A Fresh Start with Independence published on October 8, 2025, still failed to answer the central, repeated, question, "How?".
No politician since then has come close to attempting to clear this up, in my humble opinion.
My answer therefore is still No, but at least try to answer the question and I may be persuaded otherwise.
I'm afraid after all these years I don't hold out much hope.
Gregor McKenzie, East Kilbride.
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How to leave the Union
Bruce Crichton (Letters, October 19) asks what the process for leaving the Union is, and I am pleased to be able to help.
The first step is to convince Scotland's devolved parliament that a referendum should take place, and then for that parliament to convince Scotland's sovereign Parliament at Westminster to agree to that proposition. I am surprised that Mr Crichton has not remembered that this was the process which led to the 2014 vote which was successful in keeping Scotland in the UK.
The aftermath of that vote, however, and of the rather unhinged campaign to leave the Union which accompanied it, has been to make such agreement and co-operation less and less likely. My advice to Mr Crichton and other supporters of the losing argument from 2014 is to seek to build better relationships with parties and individuals whose agreement they require. This might start, for example, by establishing a consensus on Once In A Generation (as declared by Alex Salmond and accepted by pro-Union opinion). This is just a suggestion, and it would be interesting to hear from Mr Crichton and others what reciprocal concessions nationalists are willing to offer in order to build bridges in this debate.
Peter A Russell, Glasgow.
A step too far
When is John Swinney going to finally realise independence is simply a step too far for the SNP? We are all aware that this "independence" relies heavily on Scotland being able to join the European Union. Given the current disaster in France and the looming financial meltdown of France and probably Germany it may well be that the EU implodes or at least moves sharply to the right.
Even if it survives, why would it really want a debt-ridden Scotland and, almost as important, how could Scotland afford what will certainly be exorbitant entry and membership fees? Mr Swinney cannot keep saying independence is coming if he has not even done his homework on how this could be done, far less what state the EU will be in if independence were ever achieved.
It is time to stop the silly politics that have riven Scotland since 2014. We could start by saving huge amounts of public money by closing down Holyrood.
Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.
• First Minister John Swinney believes that "the stars are aligning" in favour of independence. Would those stars happen to be the well-known supporters of separation, Alan Cumming, Martin Compston, Elaine C Smith and Brian Cox (not the astronomer but perhaps an amateur astrologer)?
Mark Openshaw, Aberdeen.
What will Labour do about buses?
Many thousands of people across both urban and rural areas of Scotland will have welcomed the announcement of the SNP Government's intention to reintroduce the regulation of Scottish bus services. The restoration of regulation will mean that regional transport partnerships will have more control over routes and fares on the Scottish bus network. Ever since Margaret Thatcher's deregulation of bus services 40 years ago the users of bus services have been at the mercy of the companies' owners. Fares in many areas rose significantly and very many bus services in rural areas were withdrawn and lost as they were viewed as non-profitable by company owners.
The negative reaction from the owners of McGill's Group (James and Sandy Easdale) to John Swinney's announcement ("FM compared to Amin and Mugabe as Easdales blast bus plans", The Herald, October 19) was not unexpected. Curiously however there was no mention in their statement of the fact that prior to the Holyrood election in May they made a donation of £300,000 to the Scottish Labour Party. Contained within Scottish Labour's manifesto for that election was a commitment to reform the regulation of bus services in Scotland. In view of such a sizeable monetary donation from bus company owners however, it has to be asked if the Labour Party would be prepared to water down its manifesto commitment to meet the requirements of its donors? If so, when the time comes for the proposed SNP legislation to be debated at Holyrood, will Labour be taking the side of its party donors or will it openly support the SNP with its intention to "de-Thatcherise" Scotland's bus services?
Jim Finlayson, Banchory.
A damning admission
Ian Lakin (Letters, October 20) informs us that 5% of the UK population is so wealthy that they are able to contribute 45% of all taxation. Would he now tell us what extraordinary benefits these people have contributed to our society that makes them deserving of such enormous wealth?
Did they discover a cure for cancer, or were they just their father's sons? Did they use their special talents to invent social media systems that promote love, understanding, and education, or are they people like Elon Musk? Did they design a rocket system that put mankind safely and productively on the moon, or did they just shoot a rocket high enough to let some bimbos apply their makeup in space, like Jeff Bezos? Did they earn their billions through the sweat of their brows, or by laundering money expropriated from the poor through the City of London's laundromat?
How many homes or yachts do the super-rich need, for goodness sake? Even Malcolm Offord is able to manage with a mere handful. The aforementioned statistic should not be considered a virtuous claim, but a damning admission.
John Jamieson, Ayr.
Stamp of disapproval
Like Susan Grant (Letters, October 20), I was surprised to receive a letter from the UK Government, advising me that, due to advancing age, my state pension would be increased by the goodly sum of 25p per week. I did think of replying with a letter of thanks, until I realised that if I saved up my pension increase for seven weeks, I still would not have quite enough to purchase a first-class postage stamp.
Eric Begbie, Stirling.
We must back away from USA
I always enjoy Neil Mackay’s articles, even if I don’t always agree with everything he writes. Today, I am not convinced that Donald Trump is for Russia ("The United States is our enemy now. That’s why we have to join forces with the EU", The Herald, October 20). The only person Donald Trump is for is himself, and his equally despicable family. There can be no doubt he is being used by Russia, although he thinks he is using them, but is too intellectually limited to see that.
However, Mr Mackay is completely correct in saying we must distance ourselves from the USA. There never was a “special relationship”: we paid for the Second World War aid for decades after the war. The potential which America has is being destroyed by its electoral system which allows a charlatan like Donald Trump to be elected, not once, but twice.
We must stop being so mealy-mouthed and accommodating about President Trump and his acolytes. Every tariff, every war, has only been an opportunity for insider trading and making money for the greedy minority. We must put considerable distance between ourselves and our former allies, and rejoin Europe as soon as possible.
John NE Rankin, Bridge of Allan.
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