I READ Jay Smith’s letter (The National, November 17) with interest.

As a Scot I can understand his indignation at the refusal of an English shopkeeper to accept a Scottish banknote. A few years ago I found out the truth about how banknotes operate. The assistant at Henley-on-Thames was quite within his or her rights not accepting a Scottish note. Quite simply, they are not legal tender in England – although many retailers will accept them. Neither are English notes legal tender in Scotland, although we are happy to take them, but that is only part of the story.

What isn’t so well-known is that Scottish notes are not legal tender in Scotland either. The only legal tender in Scotland is coin, in varying amounts depending on denomination. That doesn’t mean we don’t trade in Scottish and English notes – tens of millions of pounds change hands daily. Imagine trying to pay for your family’s groceries with pound coins. Or try buying your copy of The National or a birthday card or a pint with a (legal) £100 note from any of the Scottish banks, and the response is likely to be at least one of suspicion, if not outright refusal.

Although English notes are legal tender in England, bank notes are purely a means to an end in Scotland – a promise, or rather a promissory note. The piece of plastic you use to pay for your holiday, or that five-year old car, isn’t ‘legal tender’ either, but no one bats an eyelid – anywhere from Aberdeen to Adelaide, even via Henley-on-Thames.

It’s all about convenience, and trust. The problem isn’t the law. Not to put too fine a point on it; it is ignorance of the law.

What would the Dunbar shopkeeper’s attitude be if Mr Smith offered to pay for his purchases with a Northern Irish banknote? A tenner is a tenner no matter where the note is from, and the banks in Scotland and England will happily honour them all.

Malcolm Brown
Blairhall, Fife

JAY Smith’s experience of trying to pay for goods in England with Scots “poonds” reminds me of an amusing anecdote. A friend of mine, a Yorkshireman now resident in Scotland, used to spend weekends with friends hillwalking in Scotland. One time returning home they stopped about 20 miles south of the Border to fill up. On proffering Scottish currency as payment he was informed: “Company policy ....” etc etc. “Well,” he replied, “you’ll have to take the petrol back out the tank.” Payment was accepted.

Archie McArthur
Edinburgh

Lottery fund cuts will hit poorest most

PROPOSALS by the UK department for Culture, Media and Sport to cut £30 million from Big Lottery funding for charities in Scotland will prove devastating and impact on the most vulnerable in our society.

It emerged recently that the department is proposing to reduce the money bound for the Lottery Fund from 40 per cent to 25 per cent, so that more can be directed to fund the arts and sport.

However, these cuts would leave the Big Lottery in Scotland virtually unable to fund new work, with existing commitments swallowing up almost all its remaining funds.

This seems rather odd, in that in the run up to the independence referendum the pro-Unionist Better Together campaign argued that the only way to protect lottery funding was through the Union.

It is perverse to cut support from charities when there has never been a greater need due to Government austerity. Indeed, the Trussell Trust have indicated that food bank use in Scotland has increased to record levels, with more than 60,000 referrals over a six month period.

To add insult to injury the Scottish Government has never even been consulted on such a move.

UK ministers should resist the temptation to adjust lottery spending to accommodate pressure on public expenditure, and should be doing everything it can to protect Big Lottery Fund funding, not looking to cut it.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

THE item in the Orcadian (Member of Orkney Four slams Carmichael’s fellow LibDem over column in newspaper, The National, November 18) about “the vindictive campaign against Alistair Carmichael” prompts a hearty guffaw of disbelief.

What planet is Liam McArthur MSP on? Is he absolutely unable to read the signs?

The People against Carmichael’s crowdfunding appeal attracted donations of over £130,000 from over 7000 people. All vindictive? I don’t think so.

The Orkney Four have covered themselves in glory as far as I am concerned; modest and moderate in their language, unsensational in their pursuit of justice. Their view that Alistair Carmichael’s post-election admission might just have affected its outcome is perfectly valid.

If Liam McArthur thinks it is reasonable behaviour to lie about your political opponent to the media, and then admit to the lie, then there is not much you can say! How short is the memory of politicians?

It is only a couple of years since the Westminster expenses scandal and public outrage about political links to the Murdoch press.

At that time even the most entrenched politicians were acknowledging their distance from public opinion and the need to listen.

In the initial hearing in court Alistair Carmichael’s barrister argued that the case should be thrown out because of its lack of relevance.

The judges presiding thought otherwise.

Tavish Scott, the Shetland MSP who appeared in court in support of Alistair Carmichael, deemed the exercise “a political show trial”.

This doesn’t say much for the Orkney and Shetlands representatives’ views of their constituents and their supporters.

The level of support the case has received from the public proclaims the desire of many for a cleaner and more honest kind of politics.

Maggie Chetty
Glasgow

ALISTAIR Carmichael’s slippery evasions are made so much worse by the unwholesome endorsements of what is left of his party’s hierarchy. Rennie and Scott have leapt to his defence, while Malcolm Bruce went further, firing a broadside at every politician in the land, by branding all of them liars.

Apparently none of those gentlemen think Carmichael’s actions merit an apology.

Bruce should remember that he, himself, is a politician and a LibDem politician at that, and the callous abandonment of an election pledge by Nick Clegg made it all too plain to the public that George Washington could never have joined the LibDem Party.

They are worse than bunkered and can tear up their score cards now.

Joseph G Miller
Dunfermline

THE Paris massacre is a crime against humanity and such attacks are rightly deplored. However, this was not the first large-scale massacre in Paris. In 1961 around 200 Algerians marching against the war in Algeria were shot dead by the police. This has not been mentioned by our present day reporters. The police chief at the time was Maurice Papon who worked for the Vichy police during the Second World War and collaborated with the Nazis.

Until the Palestinian problem is resolved we can expect more attacks similar to the horrific events in Paris last week.

It is reported that much funding for Daesh comes from Saudi Arabia so why does David Cameron not criticise the Saudi dynasty ?

Donald J MacLeod
Bridge of Don, Aberdeen

THE action of terrorists before 9/11 through to Paris in 2015 appals and sickens us. We must deal with them but we are at a loss to know what is the most effective way to do so. Our politicians take the stage proclaiming that the terrorists will not change our lives. But this is not true: sporting events are cancelled, security, understandably, is increased, the civil police are empowered to shoot to kill and the SAS have increased funding.

What worries me is that the police have been given the authority to kill. In previous incidents a Scotsman in London was shot to death because of his accent and that he was carrying a table leg which was mistaken for a gun. Jean Charles De Menezes, a Brazilian, was killed because he was wearing a padded jacket.

It is all too easy to misread a situation – to make two and two equal something other than four. The police like the rest of us can get it wrong – can misread the facts – can get over-anxious.

Many years ago Parliament abolished the death sentence. Since they are the highest court in the land, have the Government not acted illegally by making the police judge, jury and executioner?

Is this not the reintroduction of the death penalty by the back door? As terrorists have no regard for their lives they will welcome the risk, it only increases the danger for an open and unguarded general public.

Brian Rattray
Edinburgh

THE £145 million proposal to extend the single Edinburgh tram line from the City Centre to Newhaven via Leith has featured in The National recently (Extension needed to cut air pollution, The National, November 16).

Compare this expenditure to the billions already spent on actual or proposed transport infrastructure projects in England using a contribution from Scottish taxpayers.

These include London Crossrail, Channel Tunnel, Eurostar, additional runways at Heathrow, M25 London ringroad, HS2, etc – while an energy-rich Scotland has to cancel, defer, or water down transport infrastructure projects such as the Glasgow International Airport Rail Link and Edinburgh Tram Extension.

The new Borders rail line, for example, was financed totally from within Scotland, with no contribution from English taxpayers, yet they may use the Borders line and the Edinburgh trams when in Scotland.

It’s a strange Union where Scottish taxpayers money and Scottish oil and gas revenues continues to flow across the Border to finance English infrastructure projects, yet English taxpayers’ money stops at the Border when it comes to Scottish infrastructure projects.

William C McLaughlin
Biggar

THE BBC recently trailed, without a hint of irony, a series named Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues. on the subject of Britain’s lawless past.

I am confident that any sequel will be named Bankers, Tax Evaders and Tories. Plus ça change.

John P Ross
Milngavie