JUST listened to Labour’s Ian Murray MP wriggling when asked by John Beattie on his radio show whether he would prefer a president or a monarchy. No straight answer came there. Embarrassing, but then the usually sensible Beattie summed up the interview by asking “Would we want to elect a numpty?”

This is a red herring and juvenile. The presidents of mature nations have a largely ceremonial role and are very rarely called upon to intervene in the decisions of their democratically elected parliaments or senates. Certainly an independent Scotland will stick to the model of parliament deciding how the country is run and the presidential role being largely ribbon-cutting, hosting state occasions etc (this does not rule out some acknowledgement of the House of Windsor’s historical position and their king or queen being welcome in Scotland).

I trust the SNP will be canny enough to avoid the crude trap of being lured into a debate about this until after we have won the referendum; even then it will be well down the list of urgent matters needing attention.

David Roche

Coupar Angus