IT’S strange that Michael Fry (Memo to the SNP: Grow economy to win independence, The National, September 5) should deploy his argument about private wealth after a week of celebration of the public good in the shape of the Queensferry Crossing.

He seems to counterpose public investment with the creation of private wealth, yet the two cannot be separated. Every time we cross the new bridge, or use services like the National Health, we are sharing in the collective wealth of Scotland.

There is a sense of collective empowerment when we use these services. Private enterprise large or small flows from major public works such as the new bridge, but the major effort is directed at the public good rather than individual enrichment and the apparently inevitable exploitation of workers and tax avoidance.

Cathie Lloyd
Edinburgh