IT is dreadfully disappointing to note media reports that Scotland is set to be under-represented in the European Parliament, at such a crucial time as we go through the Brexit machinations.

Due to the internal turmoil and squabbles in the Conservative Party involving whether or not Belinda Don should be appointed as an MEP, Scotland will only have five of its six MEPs in place when the parliament’s committee system resumes in Brussels this week.

If the dispute is still not resolved by September 11, Scotland will also be below par when the parliament holds its next plenary session in Strasbourg.

It is quite ridiculous that the Tories would rather play internal politics than ensure that Scotland’s voice is fully heard in Brussels and Strasbourg.

The Tories need to address this issue quickly and ensure that Scotland has its full complement of representatives present at such a crucial time.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

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Scotland can’t afford to wait til 2021 for indyref2

I HAVE a very high regard for Tommy Sheppard. I like the way he quickly cuts through the polemic to reveal an underlying narrative.

In your publication (How we win the next referendum, The National, August 26) he covers a lot of important ground. 

However, Tommy is still a politician and spreads his words so as to retain a hint of protection no matter the outcome. One can’t really blame him.

He is too cautious for me and many like me. For ten years we have been telling the SNP that we want autonomy. The 2014 referendum was icing on the cake – we didn’t need it, they didn’t need it and it turned out to be a mistake.

The last election was won clearly but there is no mainstream media in Scotland beyond one and a quarter newspapers and so Westminster trumpeted the news that the Tories won and the SNP lost.

But listen, our government has not yet answered the question of currency! They’ve had three years cogitating!

They have not defined how they intend to pass control over the shire and island communities into the hands of the shire and islands.

They have not laid out any plans for the redefinition of income tax, property tax, vehicle tax, broadcasting tax, corporation tax or a range of techniques for collecting said taxes which would curtail the widespread frauds perpetrated day in and day out against the systems defined in London.

And this is three years after they called a referendum.

There is some fantastic work being done on the sidelines but that is all it is. It simply has no meaning until it becomes policy.

The mechanisms are there. Our government can form committees which can co-opt experts where they can explore all the matters mentioned above. Their reports would go through procedures, to be adopted eventually, by government. Not until then is it policy! Policies will fire up the nation.

This all take time and effort. It does not appear to have started yet. There is a lot of work to be done.

It is impossible to predict precisely how independence will be, but it is imperative that the direction is declared.

Despite the excellence of Holyrood, it will have failed us and Scots will not get power again to redirect Scotland’s path until such a time as its resources have run dry and so Tommy, 2021 will be too late and our chance for nationhood again will come, as quoth the raven, nevermore.

Tommy, I ask you to think again.

Christopher Bruce
Taynuilt

I ENJOYED Tommy Sheppard’s article in Friday’s National. I felt his piece was timely and found myself in agreement with most of what he said. But I do have a few reservations.

I think it is naïve to think that our opponents actually believe their own arguments. For example, most of them know perfectly well that their abusive criticism of “nationalism” is false. But they also believe that most voters are not inclined to think deeply about such issues and are reluctant to listen to arguments of any complexity. In addition they know that the bulk of the news media will contribute to the disinformation they spread so enthusiastically and that those same media will keep the false message short and snappy (that is, headline stuff).

It is constant repetition and not deep, well-argued analysis which will make an impression on most people.

So the question we must address is – how can we counter that deceitful strategy effectively without losing our own integrity or starting a slanging match?

I have a suggestion – short, single-issue handbills. And not necessarily reserved for election campaigns only. Indeed election times are probably the worst time to distribute literature of the kind I envisage.

These should be A5 size. Text on one side, a joke or a cartoon on the reverse side. Distributed every month. Regularly. Restrict the text to just a few sentences. Concentrate on demonstrable examples (Norway, Denmark, Finland). Many of the issues raised by Tommy Sheppard would also be suitable topics for these. I can suggest many more.

Make sure that the text is short enough to be read in the time it takes to walk from the front door letterbox to the nearest rubbish bin.

Make sure the jokes and the cartoons are funny enough to stay the hand that puts it in the bin and decides instead to keep it, to give another member of the family a good laugh. Form a committee of people who will write the texts.

We have the people-power to do this and the foot-soldiers to deliver to the doors in relatively heavily populated areas.

Hugh Noble
Appin

JUST to say, Tommy Sheppard’s Thomas Muir lecture is a fantastic outpouring which I hope will be distributed as widely as possible. I agree with every word Tommy has said. Am looking forward to hearing more from him at the October Conference in Glasgow.

David Ashford
Address supplied

I HAVE just watched Tommy Sheppard’s speech. It was, in a word, beautiful.

Jon Southerington
Deerness, Orkney

TONI Giugliano’s letter (Beware Europe’s right-wing separatist movements, The National, August 25), whilst laudable, unfortunately fails to mention that the two largest separatist parties in Europe are the UK’s right- and left-wing Tory and Labour parties, both of which want to rip us out of Europe.

Bruce Moglia
Bridge of Weir