YOU report Jim Gallagher insisting that people north of the Border (he couldn’t bring himself to refer to us as Scots) did not want the referendum Nicola Sturgeon is offering and that we would “prefer” to “find a way to get a better Scotland in a better Britain” (Better Together adviser admits UK must change – but says indyref2 should NOT happen, June 28).

Gallagher’s opinion is unjustifiable. He’s just denying Scotland’s identity as a nation, showing he pays lip service to democracy and knows the only way to stop Scottish independence is by denying the plebiscite he knows would deliver it. A referendum that even without a Section 30 order would have the same legitimacy as the Brexit referendum which the Tory government insisted it was duty bound to implement – the Unionists’ “Catch 22”.

Scotland electing a majority of referendum-supporting MSPs is the clearest democratic confirmation of the Scottish people’s will to hold the referendum.

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How would “getting a better Scotland in a better Britain” actually manifest itself from a Westminster political system that since the 2014 referendum has consistently lied, ignored our Scottish representatives and even ridiculed them in parliament: the political misnaming, the derision from the government back benches, the failure by the liar in chief, Boris Johnson, to properly answer questions and the clear undemocratic contempt of refusal of the Section 30 order request?

Scotland’s position within Britain won’t be bettered when we’re not true equal partners. Our democratically expressed will to remain in the EU was ignored, a special status for Scotland in the EU wasn’t even explored despite Northern Ireland getting one, and our input could have tempered the Brexit deal with common sense rather than the political diktat of right-wing Brexiteers driving the hard Brexit for the money-laundering British privileged classes, scapegoating EU immigration of what were essential workers and whose leaving has severely impacted detrimentally on the health of our economy.

Sorry, Mr Gallagher, after 50 years of getting government we don’t vote for, we could wait forever for voters in England to get their act together and wean themselves off the illusion of British empire – it just ain’t ever likely to happen.

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Britain’s had more than 300 years to build a UK of real partnership, to cut Scotland (and the others) a square deal, to view us as anything other than Gallagher’s north-of-the-Border “Englandshire”.

We are Scotland, a historic nation in our own right, with our historical right to self-determination. We supposedly live in a democracy, yet we’re being denied the fundamentals of democracy by our autocratic, overbearing neighbour.

Oppose independence through persuasion, yes. But our right to decide is paramount. And the lessons of democracy denial of such a basic right are legion. From America, through India to the disaster of Ireland, we should heed the lessons. History does not have to repeat itself.

We in Scotland can see a better way for these British Isles where we can amicably relate to our neighbours as equals and work together to build a prosperity for all. It would be better if England was up to the measure of such ambitions, but a Celtic alliance rooted in the European Union and reaching out globally would also work for us.

The question is whether Westminster places any truth or value on its “democratic” credentials and whether it’s prepared to share these isles as equals. Because the status quo is not an option.

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh