Unionist parties must get together to help save Scotland

There was also, however, a tactical voting billboard, advertising van and social media campaign by pro-UK groups such as Scotland Matters, The Majority and Scotland In Union which, according to Sir John Curtice, denied the SNP an overall majority. He described it as "a collective effort – at least on the part of unionist voters, who on the constituency ballot demonstrated a remarkable willingness to back whichever pro-Union party appeared to be best placed locally to defeat the SNP”.

It wasn't perfect, but by denying the SNP its predicted landslide or even the seats that would have saved its overall majority, it contributed to Kate Forbes' defeat in the SNP leadership race due to the threat that the Greens would pull out of the Bute House Agreement if she were elected.

Unofficial tactical voting in three recent council by-elections also ensured victories for each pro-UK party.

At the end of the day what Scotland really needs is the opposition parties to develop compelling, vote-winning polices that encourage people to vote for them, but we still need a united, pro-UK electoral front to halt the nationalist necrosis eating away at Scotland.
Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.

Band being reunited
PROPOSALS by the Conservative and Labour Party to urge their voters to support whoever’s party is most likely to unseat an SNP MP at the next General Election should hardly come as a surprise.

The Better Together band are being reunited, in a scenario already being played out across the country where they are supporting each other in numerous council administrations.

There is indeed little difference between the two parties, and it is hardly unexpected that the band is being brought together for this tactical voting exercise. Indeed, it never really broke up.
Alex Orr, Edinburgh.

📝 Sign up for our Letter of the Day newsletter and receive our Letters Editor's choice every day at 8pm.

Get insight from fellow readers and join in on what has Scotland talking. Exclusive responses to our writers and spirited debate on a whole host of issues will be sent directly to your inbox.

👉 Click here to sign up

Read more: Scotland owes so much to the strength of this precious Union

Union is putting much in peril
MICHAEL Sheridan (Letters, April 3) lists a number of precious institutions which he feels would be jeopardised by an independent Scotland. But it is not Scotland, rather the Union itself, which is putting them in jeopardy. The Union has already failed to maintain the free movement of people, goods and services throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It opted for Brexit, and in order to keep the border open between Northern Ireland and the Republic, had to create a border in the Irish Sea. No amount of diplomatic sleight of hand can alter that.

It is not true to state that the Union leads the European resistance to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is doing that. Our relationship to Ukraine is similar to that of the United States with the UK in 1940. Perhaps Brexit, and an apparently diminished Europe, encouraged Vladimir Putin to launch his attack last year.

Mr Sheridan lauds the BBC, and rightly so, but it is not Scotland that threatens the BBC; it is the Westminster Government, which has been trying to curb the freedom of the BBC since the General Strike in 1926. Now the existential threat to the BBC Singers, and the 20% reduction in funding to the BBC orchestras in England, represent an ongoing process of dumbing down, simultaneously characterised by the creeping infantilisation of BBC Radio 2, which has nothing to do with Scotland.

The NHS is in a far greater state of crisis in England, where many of my former colleagues feel it is being dismantled by stealth, than north of the Border.

I sometimes wonder whether David Cameron might have preferred to lose the referendum in 2014 rather than 2016. In 2014, he flew a Saltire above No 10 and urged Scotland to lead the UK. Posing counterfactuals is always a risky business, but if we’d had the guts to make our Union fraternal rather than political, I doubt if the rump of the UK would have left Europe and set sail on the high seas to seek trade deals in the Pacific. And the intractable problem in the Irish Sea would not exist.
Dr Hamish Maclaren, Stirling.

The best of both worlds
I WOULD like to enlarge on the advantages of our precious Union as ably espoused by Michael Sheridan.

People in Scotland have the best of both worlds with two governments working in the interests of Scotland, one of which has more devolved powers than any other. 
Scotland can trade freely with the rest of the United Kingdom, which accounts for two-thirds of its exports. Scotland also benefits from the UK’s diplomatic network around the world, promoting our interests abroad and protecting our travelling citizens. 

The Union also enables people in Scotland to benefit from the Barnet Formula which equates to an annual spend per head of around £1,400 more than the rest of the UK, thus providing more funding for public services.

The Union also protects Scotland’s place in the wider economy with pooled risks and shared benefits. If it were outside the Union, Scotland could not share in the pound, one of the most stable and oldest currencies in the world, backed up by the well-established Bank of England. Our state pensions may not be the best in Europe but they are better than Spain, France and Italy and are more than secure, because costs are shared by 31 million taxpayers across the UK. 

The Union also means the UK economy is the sixth-largest in the world and our collective strength allows us to grow and succeed together. We are also safer as part of the Union, and have been for the past 60 years, with the protection of the British Armed Forces backed up by Trident, a controversial but nevertheless necessary deterrent and membership of Nato. In addition, up to 24 warships are planned to be built in Scotland post-referendum up to 2035, providing continuity of employment for thousands of shipyard workers. 

We have a monarchy which is the envy of the world and brings an untold amount of tourism to our country and I would remind Marjorie Thompson (Letters, March 31) that the main aim of Scot King James VI when he became King James I of England in 1603 was to create a brand-new United Kingdom. She also mentions the scourge of poverty in Scotland in her letter and I would remind her that Holyrood is primarily responsible for this situation. 

In essence our Union remains “precious”, and I, like Michael Sheridan, am glad for that. 
Christopher H Jones, Giffnock.

Read more: Yousaf’s cabinet is a theatre of the absurd

Why should we fund indy minister?
IN his discussion on the profusion of Cabinet secretaries and ministers just appointed by the new First Minister, Kevin McKenna (“Yousaf’s Cabinet is theatre of the politically absurd", The Herald, April 3) wonders what additional responsibilities Jamie Hepburn has in his role as the new Minister of Independence, over and above those already held by all the SNP elected politicians and their vast array of advisers, researchers and assistants.

I haven’t a clue; but whether or not there are any, why are Scottish taxpayers being required to fund such an appointment? Matters affecting the UK constitution, such as independence would do, are the responsibility of Westminster not Holyrood, so this appointment clearly strays beyond Holyrood’s responsibilities.

The authority by which Humza Yousaf makes these appointments comes only with his duty as the First Minister of Scotland to organise the proper governance of Scotland, all within the powers devolved to Holyrood. Also, all the indications are that more than 50% of Scots favour the UK Union over independence.

In these circumstances, if the questionable appointment of a Minister of Independence is to stand, does democracy not demand that the First Minister appoints an equal and opposite Minister for the Union to ensure the representation of the interests of the majority, rather than just a minority, of Scots in that governance ?
Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

• SOME of the new positions in the new Scottish Cabinet call to mind the titles of Pooh-Bah in The Mikado…First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander in Chief, Lord High Admiral, Master of the Buckhounds, Groom of the Backstairs, Archbishop of Titipu and Lord Mayor both acting and elect, all rolled into one.
Joyce Avery, Milngavie.