THE following is a copy of an unpublished letter sent to the Sunday Herald criticising the caption used with a front page photograph that itself could not objectively be viewed as a “balanced representation” of the AUOB march. The point made in my letter seemed to have been overlooked in an “open letter” by the editor that was apparently published in reaction to some extreme comments expressed that should rightly be condemned by all seeking reasoned and respectful debate.

That said, the incessant vilification of the SNP and the Scottish Government by nearly all of the mainstream media, apart from The National, appears totally disproportionate to the level of public support for the party and generally for independence across the country and The Herald must also take some responsibility for this persistent and significant imbalance, especially as it regularly publishes letters known to be written by persons collectively promoting Scotland In Union propaganda rather than honest and constructive debate. Here is my letter:

“So the isolated actions of a few misguided individuals, provocatively making Nazi salutes and waving Union Jacks as tens of thousands of independence supporters peacefully walked by, is sufficient justification in the reporting of the impressive and good-humoured AUOB march to have the untitled Sunday Herald front page photograph denigrated with the caption words ‘but ugly confrontations marred the event’.

“In the letters pages we were again fed the biased and misleading words of more misguided individuals known to be covertly associated with Scotland in Union in an anti-independence propaganda campaign. Given that the Sunday Herald is the only Sunday newspaper even attempting to substantially reflect the views of around half the population of Scotland, one must ask what is the prospect of fair and balanced reporting across the mainstream media overall during the next independence referendum, and are professional journalists and reporters working for these organisations, including the TV channels, content with a situation which seemingly will ensure that the Scottish public will be served a highly slanted perspective of matters relevant to the constitutional debate?”

Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian

AS the disaster of Brexit deepens it has become increasingly apparent that not just cultural differences separate the Scots and English nations but a very different mindset on how we see ourselves in the world. The obscene billions spent on renewing Trident, our so-called independent nuclear deterrent, when most Scottish MPs and MSPs oppose it, just underlines these fundamental differences.

If Leonard and Davidson are the Laurel and Hardy of Scottish politics with Mundell, Davidson and Leonard the three stooges of British politics, then Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Liam Fox and Jacob Rees-Mogg are the four horsemen of the apocalypse!

Since Scotland voted massively to remain in the EU, Westminster is now treating Holyrood and Scotland with contempt and undermining the devolution agreement of 1997 by their “power grab” of devolved powers; yet Scots Tory and Labour MPs and MSPs remain silent.

Grant Frazer
Newtonmore

ROBERT Dewar (Website comments, May 14) says he voted Leave to to get away from neo-liberal uber-capitalism, corporatism and globalisation. With Johnson, Gove, Davis and Fox in charge of Brexit, could he point out where the improvements are going to come from?

Douglas Turner
Edinburgh

AT the same time as trying to negotiate terms for our withdrawal from the EU, the UK Government will also be hosting a conference in July encouraging six further countries from the Western Balkan to join the EU.

Why is it right for these emerging nations to be part of the EU but wrong for the UK? Aren’t the security, stability and prosperity that EU membership will deliver equally important for us?

When I heard of this, I nearly fell of my seat laughing, which could be quite dangerous for an old wrinkly like me.

Peter Rowberry
Duns

SCOTLAND’S budget is £37 billion. The Barnett formula gives Scotland 10% extra, therefore we get £3.7bn of a top-up. The UK borrowed its lowest amount this year of £40bn – 10% of that is £4bn. By my calculation the UK borrows more money to give to Scotland than we would need to borrow ourselves to cover our deficit. This must mean we would be better off borrowing on our own behalf in an independent country.

Remember this is the lowest borrowing for years, so we have been mismanaged for a very long time. Given that we would not be paying £4bn a year towards defence (£1.5bn would be more than adequate for a country of our size), you can see we would be much better off out of the Union. Perhaps one of your economists could check these figures and if correct they could be put on the front page of your excellent newspaper. I am sure there will be many more savings to be made, including Westminster and the Lords.

F A Paterson
Ayrshire

THIS is Mental Health Awareness Week and I read three in four people suffer with stress (Majority of Scots have felt unable to cope in past year, May 14). One of the reasons, as I found out, is lack of support from the NHS. With independence we can make our nation healthy again, not living under the stress of austerity and Brexit but having a equal society where everyone is treated fairly and not just as a number. We can save ourselves from this train wreck that is Brexit. Come on all Scots – let’s end the Westminster rule that’s making Scotland a poorer country.

Stevie
Motherwell