RUTH Wishart is right, indeed she is very seldom wrong about anything (Tired as we are of devo max, it’s still a clear danger to independence, December 7).

That is, they will try to insert this very large elephant into the middle of Scottish living rooms come the referendum.

But here’s the thing. When the Scottish people see that the elephant can’t be put in the room unless the English agree to it, the elephant will evaporate very quickly.

Gordon Brown may need to try and persuade the Scots that a federal system is a good idea. But it’s not really us he has to try and persuade.

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He has to persuade the English, and the English will never accept being completely equal to the other three nations in the UK.

So the question that needs to be asked is: “Mr Brown, how are you going to persuade England that you are no longer going to be able to tell the other three countries how they run there affairs in a federal system?”

The English of 60 million people will never accept the Scots of five million people having the same say in a federal system.

The English will also not accept breaking up England into regions so that the regions and countries are of more equal sizes in a federal system.

So Mr Brown, it’s over to you. Explain to us Scots how you’re going to persuade the English that a federal system is better for them.

I don’t see any elephants in my living room.

Alan Bernard
Cardenden, Fife

I AM a livestock farmer. Yesterday, I did what I have done many hundreds of times before. I lured a whole herd of cattle from one field to another by waving a bag, containing a small amount of food, while I walked ahead of them. Every one of them followed me because the most gullible cows came first and the rest of the herd just tagged along.

When they got to the other field, I closed the gate behind them so that they couldn’t return. The contents of the bag were then emptied out but, although it was welcomed, there was not enough of it to satisfy even one animal. However, the trick had worked, yet again, and they were trapped.

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If the people of Scotland allow themselves to be led down the path of a mythical devo-max, quasi-federal structure or any other small feed offered to them by Keir Starmer, Gordon Brown or other extreme Unionists, then they will be trapped in a ruthless, Westminster-controlled system in perpetuity.

As continuous polls tell us that the voters want to stay in a field of their own choosing, in which they control their own destiny, we will have a bag of goodies waved in our faces over the next few months. If, dread the thought, the Unionists won the next referendum, and the devo-max bag was then opened, we would discover, yet again, that it contained nothing more than a few inconsequential morsels.

We have to make it loud and clear that we are not going to be fooled a second time.

Alasdair Forbes
Farr, Inverness-shire

SINCE 2014 I have seen Kevin McKenna argue the independence case on TV as well as write on it in newspaper columns. His recent articles appear to be based on a different agenda.

The comments he makes in his latest article with regard to the SNP and some of its leadership and members are not reasoned argument, more personal opinion. Comparing them to fascists is something I’ve never seen him write regarding other parties, and statements that the Scottish police force is a private army of the Scottish Government are quite incredible.

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The haters of the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon and die-hard Unionists will applaud that language. I would say his criticism of Nicola Sturgeon is on very unsafe ground.

As for Joanna Cherry, whom I personally admire for her intellect and legal mind, as a non-member of the SNP I think she was wrong in making her comments to The Times on the eve of their conference. I wonder if she would agree with the above two comments from Kevin, though I doubt she would.

I preface my final comment by saying I’m a Protestant from a family of a Catholic father and Protestant mother and a similarly divided brother and sisters. My wife is Catholic, as are my four children. I have no religious bias or prejudice.

Kevin writes of female rights, which makes me wonder as to his views on abortion for all reasons and the control of women over their own bodies. And also about his opinion of the silent vigils that have taken place outside abortion clinics by persons which could be considered intimidatory, with the mental consequences on the pregnant women who are exercising their rights under the law.

Bobby Brennan
Glasgow

I REFER to the letter from Stan Grodynski (December 7). He mentions the billions of pounds spent on test and trace, £10 billion on purchasing PPE from Tory cronies, £8bn spent on two aircraft carriers. He hasn’t mentioned the millions spent on Trident, nor the millions that Boris has recently announced will be spent on the military.

Perhaps we would be able to deal with pandemics if the government, led by Boris, concentrated on the task in hand instead of wasting funds selling weapons to rogue states with very bad human rights records. Concentrate on the day job, Boris, instead behaving like a comic.

Margaret Forbes
Kilmacolm

WHEN the Scottish Government are asked “how are you going to pay for that!” by the bleating Unionist journos, they should all use a standard answer – “Because we won’t be paying for nuclear submarines” – until they get it!!!

Brian Clark
Dunfermline