MR French’s letter in the Sunday National raised some interesting issues. It is a pity he is poorly informed. There will be a continuing need for a titular head of state after Scottish independence and the Queen would fulfil this role, at least in the short term. If Scotland is to become a republic, it would need the consent of the Scottish people to do so. There is no need for the Queen to sell Balmoral if she doesn’t want to, as many monarchs in the past have owned overseas property. If she is uncomfortable about this, she could transfer the property in to the Crown Estate which could manage it on her behalf.

Mr French also seems to forget that the Royal Yacht Britannia was built by Scottish workers at the John Brown shipyard in the Clyde. Why should Scotland give it back?

READ MORE: As a Brit and a Unionist I say let's lance the boil and go our separate ways

Now we come to two very important issues: the Border and the Barnett Formula. We must not forget that the Scottish people have had a hard border with 26 nations imposed on them by Brexit, in spite of rejecting this by a substantial majority.

The post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement means that there are currently no tariff barriers between nations in the UK and the EU. However, some significant non-tariff barriers are in place, which affect our exports, especially of perishable goods like seafood. If the English government wants to impose similar restrictions between them and us, then so be it, but trade is a two-way street and remember what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Finally, and the thing that annoys me most of all in his letter, is Mr French calling the Barnett Formula an “extra subsidy”, as if we did nothing to deserve it? This money is paid to support the services paid for from the Scottish budget which would otherwise have to be paid by Westminster. It is similar in effect to the Revenue Support Grant paid to English local authorities. No way is it a free lunch. It suits those in power in London to treat Scotland as if it were an economic basket case. Don’t fall for their propaganda.

Pete Rowberry
Duns

WHAT a dreadful, hate-filled letter from this English person. I am not going to go through each of the delusional points raised, just the subject of Britannia.

1. The Britannia was built in Clydebank. If it is to go home, it should go there.

2. HMS Belfast, as its name suggests, was built in Belfast – it should go there.

3. The Cutty Sark was built in my home town, Dumbarton. I am sure our Maritime Museum would welcome its return.

Catherine Kerr
Dumbarton

I READ the letter from R French of Brentwood in Essex regarding the right of Scotland to be independent. It echoes the calls and emails to Any Answers on Radio 4 on Saturday. I was left seething because I couldn’t get through to argue the point that AT NO TIME was the Scottish population given the right to stop our country being handed over to the Union in 1707.

Unionists keep banging the drum of the Barnet Formula, conveniently forgetting that Scotland’s oil revenue has gone to England since the the oil started flowing. We owe the Union NOTHING, a big fat ZILCH. The only thing we owe the colonial masters is the return of the nuclear arsenal, and believe me, they WILL get it back.

I write as a No voter in 2014, who has since seen sense.

Margaret Forbes
Kilmalcolm

R FRENCH from Essex thinks Scotland is the boil when in fact it is Westminster.

For 35 years I was a Labour-voting Scot – then I found out about the McCrone report. This revealed that when confronted with Scotland’s massive oil wealth the first thought in the minds of those in Westminster was “We must keep this from the Scots.” Their second thought was “How do we keep it for England?” They did this by a population split, so Scots lost 92% of their own oil to “Union”. Brexit has shown that we are not in a union at all and Scots have been cheated.

R French of Essex should consider if England would give up 92% of huge wealth to then be ignored and taken from the EU against its will.

Scots oil has subsidised England for 45 years, and clearly R French of Essex knows nothing about it, like most in the south who think they subsidise a very oil-rich country.

The only way England will respect Scotland is when we Scots are an equal, independent country.

William Robertson
via email

R FRENCH takes the classic “Scotland’s too wee, too stupid” Britnat approach to Scotland’s independence, along with the usual historical inaccuracies, but at least his heart’s in the right place in wanting to end the union between Scotland and England.

His letter, if genuine, is a small, slightly weird acknowledgement that people throughout the so-called United Kingdom now realise it is finished, and for that alone we should thank him for his, erm, input. Now, if only the SNP leadership would recognise that fact and cease its addiction to devolution.

Erskine Findlaech
via thenational.scot