TUESDAY’S article by Gerry Hassan unfortunately adds absolutely nothing to the independence debate (Yes has to focus on big questions – not quick fixes, Jan 17). It re-states everything we already know and provides no solution on the way forward. He is out of touch with the mainstream SNP voters and activists and dare I say the wider Yes movement.

The real issue is NOT once again telling us “we have done nothing since 2014” and that those at the top of the SNP have sat on their hands and on a daily basis pursued their own personal or career aspirations in the Holyrood or Westminster bubbles.

I agree to a large extent that inertia has set in at the senior levels of the SNP. I also agree that disagreements among them about the best way forward to independence do not not help the cause. Many current senior figures and those who have gone “to the back benches” within the SNP constantly snipe at and criticise the views and suggested ways forward yet provide no answers or solutions.

Once again Gerry Hassan, another pundit, tells us to continue to make and build up the case, win the doubters over and suddenly the Scottish voters will “see the light” and propel us into the promised land of independence.

Right now, the rank and file want ACTION. The SNP, Alba, Greens and the wider Yes movement are fed up with “those in charge” telling us to bide our time and it will be all right on the night! Why action and not words now? The imperative for ACTION NOW is not simply an SNP independence dilemma but an absolute economic necessity.

The UK is broken and bankrupt, inflation is rampant, living standards are at 1930s proportions and the post-Brexit shambles is there for all to see. As a consequence, Scotland needs independence NOW to ensure the prosperity of our nation going forward.

The democratic deficit that is embedded in the archaic Westminster, with its forever English-dominated seats majority, will never deliver this much-needed prosperity and in particular the crucial requirement of total self-sufficiency in renewable energy to underpin this prosperity. This urgency is more than ever highlighted by the clear attack by the Tories on Scottish devolution. Anyone one can see the relentless erosion of Holyrood’s legislation rights and removal of rafts of legislation previously providing protection under EU laws. Westminster right-wing legislation is alien to Scotland and its people. The state of the UK economy and the vicious attack on Scottish devolution is reason enough to “go for independence” NOW.

As a consequence of the above imperatives, we have to take at the nearest opportunity, the best available “vehicle” for delivering independence, and that should be the Westminster election in 2024/25 as a de facto referendum, “no ifs no buts”. This ACTION can no longer be postponed or kicked in to the long grass for some time in the future. Pondering and second guessing the “best time” or the potential fall-out of any action to be taken is no longer an option. In March the SNP conference should endorse this resolution and then for a year to 18 months we will harness the full might of the Yes movement, independence parties and other independence supporters and as we did in 2014 (from 23% to 46%), shift support from the constant 50% to a solid majority in the Westminster de facto referendum.

Lets firstly achieve this position and at the same time prepare our strategy for the way forward in the vanguard of our inevitable victory.

Dan Wood
Kirriemuir

I AGREE 100% with Gerry Hasson’s column on Tuesday. On several occasions I too have asked for more detail on what an independent Scotland would be like. For instance, being a pensioner myself, the fundamental questions concerning currency and pensions.

Then there is the central bank and associated institutions necessary to run an independent Scotland. How would the social services be different to now, and what changes might be necessary for our public services?

There are already separate non-government groups researching important issues, such as the Scottish Currency Group and the Business for Scotland group. There is also the public-access website Constitution for Scotland allowing comments and amendments to our own constitution, also a very necessary and important part of an independent country. All these issues have yet to be considered by the SNP government and in turn conveyed to the voting population.

It’s taken eight years of healthy government we can be thankful for, but eight years of a lack of planning for an independent Scotland, only interrupted by the occasional requested permission for a Section 30 order from a “mother£ parliament that has no interest in the very existence of Scotland.

The SNP government needs to wake up to the aforementioned issues and more, and start a plan for an independent Scotland and why we should vote for it. Not all of Scotland is sufficiently convinced.

Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife