THE points raised in the letters from John Jamieson and Linda Horsburgh (July 11) both reflect a question I have long wanted answered. How can Scotland’s wish to decide on its future form of government be a UK constitutional issue, when the UK has no constitution as such? There are many reasons to refute this assertion.
The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Act demanded the dissolution of both the Scottish and English parliaments. Whilst the Scottish one was dissolved, the English one was not. It was merely left as it was, with the addition of a few of the “parcel of rogues” who signed away our heritage to protect their own wealth and power and who would simply shut up or do what they were told – exactly as our small minority of MPs are still expected to do today.
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Proof of this is that Westminster can still use Henry VIII powers, created before the Union and therefore with no relevance or legality in Scotland. In addition, from day one, England has frequently broken the terms of this international treaty. For example, where is the separate Scottish Mint which was to be set up immediately after uniting? Quite recently, Westminster accepted the Claim of Right, which accepts the sovereign right of Scots to decide their own form of government.
I have never understood how the Supreme Court, set up and operating under English law, can take precedence over our highest Scottish Court, if indeed Scottish Law is protected in perpetuity, as was promised. So why, if the Treaty has long been broken by England and there is no proper English constitution, is a referendum anything to do with a non-existent constitution and an English court?
Mr Jamieson’s letter puts it perfectly. The UK is England, and our budget is a “grant”, ie an altruistic gift to keep us happy! So the English government carries on working as normal on the basis of use and won’t give us our rights over anything it benefits them to use!
L McGregor
Falkirk
IF ever we needed to be reminded that the Tory hierarchy are playing out their clown show for the benefit of the very few party members and backers that will decide the next leader and therefore next PM, well, it is their comments about a Scottish independence referendum. From what I have read and heard, the inglorious bunch are all playing the Union card, each vying to be the ultimate in pro-Union.
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Call me an enlightened, forward-thinking kind of guy, but did they not challenge the Johnson leadership and lose, then change the rules to force him out? So if it is alright for the Conservative and Unionist Party after a matter of weeks to oust their encamped head then it is, and here l use their example, more than proper that Scotland gets to revisit the question of independence in the timeframe indicated by the First Minister. But then the Tory party, Westminster and the elite do not play by the rules, they play to retain power, something that they never give away unless the very real threat of revolt is in the air.
So this month, whilst the Conservative and Unionist Party play out their backstabbing as is their habit and their drones that are Scotland’s shame cause havoc on our roads, the majority of us will be readying for our independence referendum.
Cliff Purvis
via email
IT is finally coming to an end. The catastrophic, disgusting premiership of Boris Johnson. Like so many others, he did not last the duration of the course, just shy of three years. That timescale will tell future students and scholars that he was just a one-hit wonder.
His popularity in Scotland is and always has been virtually non-existent. Even his Scottish counterparts do not want him. I would call that a snub. A snub for someone who, as the self-appointed Minister of The Union, should be trying to bring the UK together.
Boris denied independence with useless arguments such as “better off together”, an argument which is a statistical falsehood. Then he denies the existence of a pro-independence majority, which is another falsehood as that majority is watching Westminster go up in flames at its own disorganisation. Furthermore he drops an utterly stupid suggestion that the first independence referendum was a once-in -a-generation opportunity, again another falsehood, as political landscapes constantly change – a fact he is undoubtedly now familiar with.
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His inability to string together phrases other than “fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe” and “delivering for the people of Britain” shows just how unsuccessful he was in office. His own fault. The next leader will of course do the same.
I will miss the way Ian Blackford, week after week, would tear him to shreds in the House of Commons. But the system is broken. Westminster denies Scotland a voice. It is deliberately designed that way, to impose on us a ubiquitous Britishness.
The only fit leader for Scotland is its own. Nicola Sturgeon. Who has now fended off her third conservative Prime Minister, and countless party leaders. When you think of political giants, only she comes to mind. Starmer is dull, the Tories are a bunch off self-serving idiots and the rest is fringe.
Noah Miles (aged 17)
Glasgow
LIFE is too short to list the failings and shortcomings of each of the current field of candidates aspiring to be the next Conservative Party leader and, therefore, the Prime Minister of the UK. Yet the supposed early favourite Rishi Sunak carries a specific doubt on his fitness for office. It would be a little ironic if the Conservatives decide that the first Prime Minister to be found guilty, while in office, of breaking the law and consequently fined should be succeeded by Sunak, another individual found guilty of breaking the law and fined. It is hardly a step towards the cleansing of standards in public life that the UK so desperately needs.
Gavin Brown
Linlithgow
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