ANENT Alan Johnson’s request (Letters, July 16) for a seconder to urge our elected representatives to object in the strongest terms possible to the new “hub” in Edinburgh, I would suggest he has at least 50% of the Scottish population behind him.

READ MORE: Letters, July 16

Mundell is the most devious, manipulative and dangerous Unionist politician Scotland has ever had the misfortune to have foisted upon her as his sole purpose is to dismantle Holyrood and destroy the SNP. He will use any means to achieve his aim and these new offices with specially created “Cabinet” rooms should be halted immediately. Will someone please set up a petition to voice our objections to this serious threat to our devolved parliament?

Lindsay Morrison
Cousland

IN reply to Alan Johnson’s letter we say: of course you have a seconder – you have at least two, in the signatories to this reply. How many more do you need? They must be pouring in. The word “hub” is an unusual choice, although every self-respecting organisation now has a “hub”. The word is of doubtful etymology. We like to confuse it with a word of known source – “hubbub”, meaning “confused din, disturbance, riot and confused yelling of a war-cry”. This "hub’’ is a Trojan horse, even more evident than the first one of the breed. It would be interesting to know how much the move to it is going to cost and also if the Scottish people were consulted, via the Scottish Government, on the choice of name.

Is it “Fluffy’s” role as Scottish Secretary to “invite” the Cabinet to Edinburgh, irrespective of venue? Whether constitutionally valid or not, we would imagine that the next Cabinet would have no difficulty in inviting itself. That is the problem.

Brian Patton and Robert MacLachlan
Foulden

YES, Mr Johnson, I’m sure you have many, many thousands of seconders – including me. With all the distractions in the political world just now, have people missed this political “hub” story’? I had heard of the hub, which I mistakenly, thought of as being some sort of benign trade centre. However, it sounds like a destructive take over of our Holyrood parliament. Should this “hub” not have been stopped in its infancy? I had thought, and hoped, that the Scotland office was becoming surplus to requirements and was on its way out – wrong again!

When I read the article in Monday’s paper I experienced, for the first time in my long life, a fear for the future of our Scottish nation. I also had an overpowering sense of outrage. One hub is bad, but a second one in Glasgow is unthinkable. Are we about to be sucked into the chaotic system which calls itself the Westminster parliament, where people have been promoted way beyond their competence level?

Marjory Carroll
via email

WHY the protests over the plans for a new UK Government building in Edinburgh? It will make a grand English Embassy in a couple of years!

Alasdair MacDermott
Appin