SO the First Minister believes an independent Scotland could use the Northern Ireland protocol as a template for the Scotland-England border. The so-called Conservative & Unionist Party were warned the protocol would be used by the SNP.

Whilst the Scottish LibDem MP Alistair Carmichael had said: “The Northern Ireland protocol was hastily cobbled together and badly thought out. Already we are seeing the devastating consequences of that decision” and Labour’s shadow minister for Scotland Ian Murray MP says a Northern Ireland protocol-type arrangement for an independent Scotland “would lead to customs checks for goods entering and leaving Scotland – this would be a disaster for our economy.” The Conservatives have already split the United Kingdom and put an internal trade border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

READ MORE: People on both sides of Irish border open to poll but concerned about costs, survey says

We currently have a situation where Northern Ireland farmers can’t bring home sheep they bought in Scotland last September due to EU rules. Where Scottish farmers can no longer sell seed potatoes to Northern Ireland. And where Alba Trees recently turned down an order of 70,000 oaks trees because they can’t ship them to Northern Ireland due to an EU ban.

Boris Johnson previously said: “We would be damaging the fabric of the Union with regulatory checks and even customs controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland ... now I have to tell you no British Conservative government could or should sign up to any such arrangement.”

Ruth Davidson and David Mundell threatened to resign over the issue. Their letter to the Prime Minister in October 2018 said the integrity of the UK was a blood red line. This letter was welcomed by Scottish Conservative MP Ross Thomson, writing in the Belfast News Letter at the time (“Scottish unionists cannot accept an Irish Sea border or let Brexit divide our nation, says Tory MP,” November 9 2018).

The letter to the Prime Minister read: “Having fought just four years ago to keep our country together, the integrity of our United Kingdom remains the single most important issue for us in these negotiations ... Any deal that delivers a differentiated settlement for Northern Ireland beyond the differences that already exist on all-Ireland basis (eg agriculture), or can be brought under the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, would undermine the integrity of our UK internal market and this United Kingdom.”

The letter added: “We could not support any deal that creates a border of any kind in the Irish Sea and undermines the Union or leads to Northern Ireland having a different relationship with the EU than the rest of the UK, beyond what currently exists.”

Yet now we have the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross meekly welcoming an internal UK trade border that breaks the Act of Union and contravenes the cross-community mechanisms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Alan Day
County Tyrone, Northern Ireland

I LOVE Scotland. I spent 45 years working there. Four years into retirement and everyone here asks me why Scots would not want to be in control of their own destiny, leaving that to the majority in the UK Parliament where Scotland has virtually no influence. Scotland has to face political reality.

English nationalism demands England first, and control of Scotland. The ruling class write their own history. Scotland’s history and culture are being morphed into England’s. Everything is now described as “British”. The Westminster system of government clings to a feudal-style structure: an extensive monarchy; heritable peers; titled lords and ladies; bishops; entitled schools and universities; the persistent promotion of a class system; contracts for their friends; an unchanging pyramid of accumulated power where the head of the monarchy is revered almost like a deity.

READ MORE: Northern Ireland protocol has resulted in a dangerous identity crisis

The Irish Republic is, this year, 100 years old. We have seen the Irish Tiger. The government was in surplus before the pandemic. We currently have a seat in the UN Security Council and a commissioner with the important financial portfolio in the EU. We carry considerable respect in the US and an influential voice in Brexit and general European affairs. No-one would give that up. Scotland, one of Europe’s oldest countries, should take its place in the modern world of Europe. Believe in yourselves. Believe in your country’s strengths and abilities. Please join us by taking that first step tomorrow.

Fintan Moriarty-FitzGerald
Dublin

FAR be it from me to come across as a sore loser, but once referee Nick Walsh indicated “play on” during Sunday’s Old Firm match, and Rangers scored, the rules dictate that he could no longer come back and give Callum MacGregor a second yellow. If he had stopped play instead of indicating “play on” with his arms, then a yellow card was valid and would be MacGregor’s second and thus a sending off. Now I know that our football referees in Scotland are amateur but a little bit of homework on their part would go a long way to ensure fair and correct decisions.

And now for my admission ... if Celtic had fielded 14 players with four up front we still wouldn’t have found the space between both posts.

Tommy Murphy
Hamilton