A LUCID commentary as ever from the Wee Ginger Dug (This Tory has destroyed another anti-Yes argument, Dec 21), but do we spend any of “our budget” on defence? Certainly not the Scottish budget. Our taxes cover this and a lot more.

The supposed deficit (and all countries have them) is the difference between what we earn and what we need to spend, bearing in mind that many business profits made in Scotland disappear unaccounted into the Treasury’s coffers.

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The Dug is right that we wouldn’t need half of our current “share” of defence, but there’s also a simple transitional arrangement available to us on independence, namely to lease Faslane and other military sites and let the Regiment of Scotland stay in the British Army (excluding non-defence) at the UK’s expense.

Robert Fraser
via thenational.scot