THE decision of Spain's Supreme Court to convict Catalan politicians and activists to lengthy jail sentences following their bid to win independence in 2017 is truly appalling ("Catalan independence leaders sentenced to lengthy jail terms", The Herald, October 15).

Normal western countries don’t lock up democratic opponents and for an EU member state in the 21st century to have political prisoners beggars belief. This situation raises serious concerns about the very nature of democracy in Europe.

The EU and the rest of the international community must intervene, offering the parties a way out of the conflict. This is no longer an internal Spanish affair, it is a European and a global crisis. The EU does not need to take a side in the argument, rather it should act as an impartial mediator, looking at democratic and negotiated solutions.

The EU cannot afford not to intervene or the crisis will simply escalate. Let the EU help Spain and Catalonia find peace.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh EH9.

MOST people assumed the SNP’s nadir with regard to its "cutting off the nose to spite the face" tendency came in 1979. Then its Westminster MPs committed the worse case ever of political hara-kiri. In a fit of unparalleled self-indulgence it brought down the moderate Callaghan Labour government and ushered in 13 years of Margaret Thatcher and were decimated at the General Election they brought about.

Fast forward to 2019. Forty years later, is it repeating the same short-sightedness? Leading SNP members pillory Spain for its actions in dealing with the Catalan lawbreakers under its laws. Their outspoken remarks will not endear the nationalists to the government of Spain – much the contrary. But, as with the James Callaghan case, the SNP seems to choose to ignore the consequences of its actions.

Spain is a veto-holding EU member with the power on its own to block any attempts for a broken-off and separated Scotland attempting to enter the group. It has been known also to hold grudges.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh EH6.

YOU couldn't make it up: the SNP in the form of Nicola Sturgeon states that formal customs borders cannot be ruled out between an independent /EU Scotland and the remaining UK ("FM refuses to rule out hard border with England after independence", The Herald, October 14). The current state of affairs with the EU and the UK hasn't yet been sorted out and until that point we will have no indication of final customs requirements between us. Any agreement in that respect would be copied between an independent/EU Scotland and England and, of course, Northern Ireland too, leaving Scotland as an island between two non-EU countries that are currently our largest markets.

Ms Sturgeon also appears to be of a mind that Scotland's application to join the EU on its own behalf would be a breeze as it will welcome us with open arms, yet she also states that we musn't speculate until we have hard facts/terms. That will not be before our current shambles is settled and not this year at our current rate of progress whether deal, no deal or the highly unlikely withdrawal of Article 50.

George Dale, Beith.

AS the SNP’s core support eagerly anticipated Nicola Sturgeon’s keynote speech at the SNP conference, many will have been buoyed up by the latest Panelbase poll showing the two sides of the independence debate apparently neck and neck ("Support for indy now up to 50%, says poll", The Herald, October 14). Yet this opinion poll has been taken arguably at a point of maximum grievance and anxiety over Brexit, which the SNP leadership has been working so hard to link directly to a second independence referendum.

Despite what the First Minister implies, there can be no prospect of an independence referendum rerun being held before the outcome of Brexit is better understood, and also any such vote will only follow a detailed analysis of the SNP’s new plans for an independent Scotland. To the extent that those plans exist, they have so far avoided any detailed scrutiny, and that will all change in any formal independence campaign, which will require all the most inconvenient of issues to be addressed by the SNP leadership.

Amongst other things, the people of Scotland will be intrigued about just when, how and on what terms, Nicola Sturgeon can guarantee an independent Scotland would rejoin the EU. Only when the SNP leadership properly spells out what it will cost us to leave the UK and in turn become part of the EU’s ever-closer union project, will we really know what the people of Scotland really think about compounding the impact of Brexit with the far greater disruption of breaking up the UK.

Keith Howell, West Linton.

I AM not a member of the SNP but I take exception to some of Mark Smith’s alternatives ("A declaration that can offer an alternative to the SNP", The Herald, October 14).

He says Scotland should be an open and democratic society but we should be defined by common interests and values that “transcends nationality”. Nationality is forged by our culture which is shaped by our history and geography and embodies our “interests and values”, the very thing which makes us interesting to other people. These two aspects cannot be separated. Later he says that nations should cede sovereignty and independence in the interests of promoting economic efficiency. To the benefit of whom one might ask ? Economic efficiency has a history of being a boon to a few and a burden to many and, to cede sovereignty to it, hands control to big global corporations and further erodes democracy.

John Inglis, Arran.

Read more: A Declaration that can offer an alternative to the SNP