YOUR exceptional sports columnist Martin Hannan is, as usual, spot on in his assessment of modern international rugby (Scots shine in a game for giants, The National, March 21). It has become a game for the physically exceptional; for giants.

Which is a pity, as it was created as a game for players of almost any physique. There were positions in a team to suit the small and nimble, the tall, the strong, those gifted with sheer pace or clever skills, and if you enjoyed grubbing about in the mud or loved the feel of putting down an opposition runner with a solid tackle, there were positions to suit you.

I suppose there is no way back now from the physical demands of professional rugby. But at least at school level the game is still played and enjoyed by normal children.

Though I remember standing on the touchline at school and hearing the home headmaster, a former international, screaming at his forwards to stamp on the visiting scrum-half’s hands in a loose ruck!

So perhaps we shouldn’t paint the amateur era in too golden a light. There were always hard characters about! It’s just that they have become an awful lot bigger and more dangerous.
Peter Craigie
Edinburgh

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Voting in ScotRef should be as inclusive as 2014

FOR me, one of the fairest rules laid down and agreed as part of the voting criteria for the Scottish independence referendum of 2014 was the basic principle that all who had made Scotland their permanent home enjoyed the right to vote on the country’s future direction in that referendum.

At a stroke this removed any hint of ethnic nationalism from the equation and conveyed the spirit of openness and equality for all that most fair-minded people resident in Scotland could support.

Sixteen and 17-year-olds were also given the vote for the first time in a move that showed Scottish thinking at its best. This progressive voting criteria for the independence referendum was in stark contrast to any elections organised under the beady eye of Westminster, where narrow voter eligibility came into play.

The Scottish Government must, as they did in negotiations over the rules for the first Scottish independence referendum, ensure that the original inclusive voting criteria is adhered to in the interests of fairness and equality.

The voting criteria proposed by the Westminster Government will tally with their policies of exclusion. This must be firmly resisted by those negotiating on behalf of the Scottish independence movement.

While there will be negotiations over many aspects of a future independence referendum, not least its timing, the issue of voting criteria should be a line in the sand for the Scottish Government. They should convey to the UK Government that regardless of whether or not Scotland has already been taken out of the European Union as part of the UK, all permanent residents of Scotland at that time will be afforded full voting rights in the referendum as will all 16 and 17-year-olds living in Scotland. Checks and balances such as appearing on the voters roll would obviously apply.

An outward-looking egalitarian country must begin, from its very birth, to include all its citizens who have chosen to come and live here regardless of their origin or age.
Eddie Lamb
Leith


LIKE so many others, I voted for independence with Scotland remaining in the EU. In recent weeks I have changed my mind and decided that Scotland having access to the single market is preferable to full membership of the EU.

There are several reasons for me coming to this view, mainly due to the ongoing practicalities about our continued relationship with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will obviously want to continue trading with our British Isles neighbours and full membership would make this incredibly difficult.

With full access to the single market we would have the same situation that Norway enjoys. Sure, we would have to pay our dues to the EU but that would be more than compensated for with tariff free trade. We would also maintain full control of our fisheries and agriculture which we would not have with being full members of the EU.

There is a surprisingly large number of independence voters who do not want EU membership. I believe that free access to the single market would be acceptable to these people. I hate the idea that we could lose an independence referendum due to potential independence voters choosing to abstain or vote against because they do not want EU membership more than independence.

I suggest that if we were to get access to the single market we could wait for five to 10 years to see how it goes. After this time we could have our own referendum to decide whether to go for full membership or stick with access. It would be for us to decide.
Harry Key
Largoward, Fife

SURELY Article 50 cannot be triggered until the Scottish Government is officially and legally informed in writing, outlining what consideration has been given to Scotland’s requests in this sharing process of union?

If it is, could the EU via Michel Barnier be decent enough to keep Scotland informed separately.
Richard Easson
Address supplied

THIS letter is written in advance of the debate regarding the referendum on the independence of Scotland, and I predict that the principal attack by the Conservatives will be that the Government should “forget about independence” and “get on with their day job”. One other thing is predictable: that the Conservatives do not ever neglect their day job, which is constantly to denigrate Scotland, our government and, in particular, the First Minister and as many of her ministers as possible.

At the last Holyrood election, the SNP were given a clear and precise mandate to pursue a referendum under certain well-defined conditions, which have subsequently been enacted. It is worth noting that the Conservatives give that no importance, a clear example of the brick wall of intransigence built by the PM as an encouragement to her Scottish branch office.
John Hamilton
Bearsden

THE General Teaching Council of Scotland has not listened to Scottish teachers and is pressing ahead with its massive annual fee increase from April 1 (from £15 to £65). It is time for Scottish teachers to boycott GTCS elections until the quango comes to its senses.

I also do believe that there should be an independent financial audit of the GTCS to make sure that our money has been used appropriately.
Ken Ferguson
Edinburgh