LABOUR Councillor Alex Gallagher (Letters, June 8) criticises the Scottish Government's handling of the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, pointing out that New Zealand has a far lower death toll than Scotland; that's true, but when Councillor Gallagher contends that what he labels "incompetence" by the Scottish Government makes it difficult to bolster the case for independence, he would appear to have overlooked the fact that New Zealand is independent, and was therefore able to close its boundaries, something non-independent Scotland did not have the power to do; so while the pandemic was raging, planes were arriving at Scottish airports from Covid-19 hotspots around the world.

I agree with Tom Clarke (Letters, June 8) when he writes that Boris Johnson's handling of the Dominic Cummings scandal was appalling, but he is wrong to compare it to Nicola Sturgeon's handling of the Catherine Calderwood situation. Mr Johnson allowed the Cummings scandal to drag on, capture headlines and divert from the main issues surrounding the virus, for the best part of a week, and indeed Mr Cummings is still in post, while as Mr Clarke admits, Ms Sturgeon resolved the Dr Calderwood issue within a day; and it should be remembered that Mr Cummings gives political advice, Dr Calderwood was a medical adviser.

I am intrigued that Mr Clarke should consider the description of "Unionist" to be offensive, but when he writes that "we choose to love our country, Scotland, and work with others in the United Kingdom to achieve a better society and to hold to account an 'elite' whether it exists in Holyrood or Westminster", may I point out that throughout this crisis the Scottish Government has worked constructively with the other nations of the UK, and while all governments must be held to account, on the matter of elites, what springs to my mind is the House of Lords, a privileged, unelected, expensive encumbrance, which will never be found in Holyrood.

As for the "clear majority" who did not vote for Scottish independence last time round, that was then and this is now, and a combination of Brexit, last December's General Election which resulted in yet another Tory Government Scots didn't vote for, and the handling of this health crisis have caused many people to think again and change their minds, as can be seen in the latest opinion poll which suggests that a majority of voters are now in favour of independence.

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

I DO not disagree with Kevin McKenna’s assessment of the UK Government’s handling of the Coronavirus outbreak ("British elite has failed. It’s time for Scots to break free", The Herald, June 6).

I would, however, be very interested to learn how he thinks the extreme financial challenges, both during the outbreak and in rebuilding our economy, could ever be overcome in an independent Scotland. We certainly couldn’t finance the immediate cost on the basis of "Scotland’s oil", the value of which has plummeted.

Liz Galbraith, Milngavie.