IAN Roberts (Letters, Jan 8) puts the most pertinent questions in relation to gaining independence fairly and squarely in the context of the SNP’s policy of using the most seats gained at the forthcoming General Election. Ian contends that even if the SNP deliver a majority of seats but do not have a majority of votes for independence ( a “democratic imperative”), it would allow whichever Unionist party is in power to disregard the SNP position because they would claim that there is not the support for independence among the Scottish people. Ian also comments on what would happen to the independence campaign even if the SNP fail to win the majority of seats.

READ MORE: Let’s make this the year the Yes movement gets serious

Tommy Sheppard MP says in his column in the Sunday National “if the SNP lose the election, independence is off the table – vote wisely”. Sheppard goes on to say: “If the SNP loses the election in Scotland, the debate in Scotland stops.” NO, IT DOES NOT!

What this shows is that the SNP has currently a fatally flawed prospectus. What it must be doing in relation to the General Election is to campaign for votes to provide a majority for independence viz a plebiscitary vote, that will in itself provide support for seats for pro-independence parties.

READ MORE: Tommy Sheppard: Scottish independence is off table if SNP lose vote

Will the SNP top echelon, including MPs and MSPs, recognise the dangers in the course they have taken and make it clear in any manifesto that, as Ian Roberts rightly says, a vote for the SNP will be a vote for actual independence? Sheppard exposes a further negative dimension in SNP policy when he says “But that is not where we are now and that is not what we are asking for in this year’s General Election ... this year’s vote is about whether the journey continues, whether we can create circumstances to move towards our independence”.

This baleful position is not acceptable.

John Milligan
Motherwell

LIKE Stuart Farquharson (Letters, Jan 9) I am in the twilight years of this mortal coil, and occasionally think about my addition to all those Scots who have gone to their graves with their hopes of independence unfulfilled. For 300 years and more.

The surprising aftermath of the disappointing 2014 result was the massive increase in SNP membership, and an explosion of hope for a rerun soon. Only days later my own local Yes group, in this stronghold of Unionism, met to plan our future activism. How dispiriting it has been to witness no efforts being made by political leaders to build on that enthusiasm and to comprehensively slay some of the Unionist’s fake fallacies. Instead, there has been a steady departure of members from both the SNP and Yes groups.

READ MORE: Focus must be on achieving independence, not producing pipe dreams

For instance, why has the Unionists’ currency bogie not been laid to rest? Yes, the SNP probably did its research and discovered the Scottish population’s attachment to the pound. But sticking with that policy is surely just playing into Unionists’ hands. All the unbiased financial experts say that Scotland must adopt its own currency soon after independence, and the Pound Scots seems to their preferred option; it is certainly mine. The SNP have had 10 years to educate the public about switching to the Pound Scots; how its make-up would match the Pound Sterling, and track it until that is no longer sensible.

10 wasted years during which support for independence has barely shifted despite the dire state the UK is in, when it should be up around the 60% mark. I recognise that the SNP has introduced some excellent policies during that time, especially in addressing poverty and cruel Tory ideology. But none of that seems to be holding up support for the SNP in the forthcoming election, with the morbid possibility of Labour gains.

Please will someone say something to cheer me up!

Richard Walthew
Duns

RECENTLY there appears to have an upsurge in correspondents who claim that they support independence saying that they will spoil their ballot papers, abstain from voting or vote for one of smaller independence parties that have no chance of having their candidates elected as MPs at Westminster.

READ MORE: Claiming 'the indy dream will never die' won’t take us forward

All appear to have grievances with the SNP. I get that. However, taking any of actions mentioned above, rather than voting SNP at the UK General Election, means knowingly increasing the chances of electing a Unionist MP from Labour, the Tories or LibDems.

Can someone please explain why taking actions which can help to elect Unionist MPs to Westminster furthers the cause of independence?

David Howie
Dunblane

IN her statement on Tuesday, the former CEO of the Post Office said that sub-postmasters were “wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system” (Pardon hope for Scottish victims of Post Office scandal, Jan 10).

The Horizon system was nothing more than an inanimate accounting software package.

Were sub-postmasters not wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of decisions made by Post Office management?

John Jamieson
South Queensferry

GOOD news for the wrongly accused, convicted and bankrupted subpostmasters. We should now see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to book and made to pay, literally, for their crimes.

That’s a good start.

READ MORE: New law to 'swiftly compensate' Post Office Horizon IT scandal victims

Now let’s have a similar indignation-fuelled campaign for the victims of the polluted blood scandal, for those businesses wrecked by the machinations of the too-big-to-fail banks and all the other “small” people trampled on by the malign forces of the establishment. Insert your favourite oppressors.

I’m quite angry – can you tell?

Richard Douglas
Taynuilt