Slater's obstinance and poor judgment will cost the country dear

Whatever the true picture may be, it would seem that Ms Slater's judgement was suspect and costly, a matter which seems to have escaped her mind and Mr Yousaf's.

Bob MacDougall, Kippen.

• I WAS amused to hear Lorna Slater explain in detail that her DRS scheme had failed due to Westminster and not the drinks industry refusing to support her scheme.

It seems to me that Lorna Slater is always right and everyone else is always wrong; but the compensation claims from the drinks industry may tell a different picture.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

A complete lack of common sense

AS the age of AI becomes more established then the complete lack of common sense in our current Scottish Government becomes starkly obvious.

Huge errors of judgment are being made on a daily basis. Humza Yousaf's backing for the Greens is impossible to justify just the same as is Nicola Sturgeon's inability to see that she really has to call it quits – and Lorna Slater just cannot continue as a minister after all the chaos in her wake already.

The ferries scandal has defied any logic, as has the failure to dual the A9 and the lack of progress in reducing health service waiting lists.

SNP/Green decisions are now unfathomable. If AI was to be used to make government decisions just how many of these problems could be avoided? All of them.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

Read more: Today's reality is that Scotland is the British Empire's last colony

The Union was bitterly opposed

I WOULD certainly agree with V Nelson (Letters, June 18) that Scotland was not "a willing participant in the Union". The reality was that in 1706 Scotland had been forced into a corner by England desperate to secure the Protestant succession of Sophie of Hanover, granddaughter of James VI. English troops had been sent to the border; the Royal Navy was at sea and the destructive Aliens’ Act, which would have severely damaged the Scottish economy was due to come into force at the end of December. The Scottish Parliament reluctantly agreed to appoint a team of negotiators to agree terms for the proposed Act of Union. Tellingly all of the 31 Scottish commissioners, hand-picked by the London-appointed Lord High Chancellor, the Earl of Seafield, were supporters of the proposed Union.

The agreed terms were received with shock by Scotland. The representation in the new United Kingdom parliament were extremely disadvantageous to Scotland. Only 45 MPs were to join the 513 English MPs (Cornwall had 44 MPs) and just 16 peers were to join the 190 English peers in the House of Lords. Scotland was to lose its weights, measures and coinage and take on a share of the colossal English National Debt of £14m. What really rankled the Scots was the choice of the new flag. The Union flag of Cromwell’s Commonwealth had shown the crosses of St Andrew and St George quartered. The new Union Jack had the cross of St George on top of the St Andrew’s Cross.

We must remember that the Scottish Parliament was not chosen democratically. Most of the 200 or so members chose themselves. Popular opinion was expressed by demonstrations or by petitions. A total of 96 petitions were submitted from all over Scotland – not one of them supported the proposed Act of Union.

There was much comment at the time of the 2014 Referendum as to what Sir Walter Scott’s view might have been. It is quite clear that Scott supported the Union but deplored the terms that had been agreed. He bitterly recorded that “The interest of Scotland were considerably neglected…and in consequence, the nation …considered it a total surrender of their independence by their false and corrupted statesmen into the hand of their proud and powerful rival.”

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

Read more: It's time to stop our history being airbrushed out

The intertwining of histories NEIL Mackay's spotlight for Dr John Young ("How Scots were foot soldiers in England's colonisation of Ireland", June 11, and Letters, June 18) was an excellent examination of the need to teach Scottish history as a subject which is intertwined with the history of its neighbours.

Although the article convincingly made the case of the need for Scots to fully reckon with our imperial role of the past, particularly with regards to Ireland, there was a slight historical error within its narrative. The mention of the Irish Williamite War (1689-1691) was accompanied by a rather puzzling discounting of the bloodshed which followed the "Glorious" Revolution of 1688 and deposition of King James VII in 1689.

"Significantly this conflict wasn't fought in Scotland" – this is simply not the case. The eruption of rioting and religious violence in certain shires of Scotland during the Convention of Estates of 1689 is well known. Lesser known is the outbreak of a three-year civil war which followed the Scottish Estates dispossession of James's crown and their election of King William of Orange and Mary Stuart to the throne. The Highland War, sometimes better known as the first Jacobite rising, was a bloody and divisive conflict which was inextricably linked with events in Ireland. The conflict has remained overlooked as traditional histories sought to downplay any bumps in the road on "the eve of union". Although William of Orange did, indeed, state that he wished to avoid "the effusion of blood" in Scotland, this came almost a year into the fighting and was written in relation to a proposed ceasefire, one which the Jacobites promptly rejected.

My doctoral research focused upon the need to re-appraise this conflict as part of a wider geo-political struggle in Europe, the War of the Grand Alliance. Rather than an insularly Scottish affair, the Highland War was triggered by the Dutch invasion of England in 1688 and closely related to events in Ireland. Three hundred Irish soldiers fought at the battle of Killiecrankie (July 27, 1689) and perhaps as many as 500 Ulster-Scots refugees were responsible for the first Scottish Williamite victory over the Jacobites at the battle of Loup Hill (May 16, 1689). Moreover, peace was only secured for the Williamites in Scotland after the defeat of the Irish Jacobites at the second siege of Limerick, which lasted from August until October 1691. The Treaty of Achallader was only assented to by the Scottish Jacobites when they knew their Irish comrades had been defeated. Additionally, the Irish Jacobites came under intense pressure as Williamite victories in the Scottish campaigns of 1690-91 put the Jacobites on the defensive there. This, in turn, allowed more and more Scottish regiments to be sent to Ireland to continue the fight against the Jacobites there.

The Scottish conflict cannot be overlooked in terms of its relative importance and is a prime example of the connections between Ireland and Scotland's history. Equally, the Highland War was a key moment in the latter development of a militaristic Scottish Protestant identity – one which espoused anti-Catholic, anti-Irish and anti-Jacobite rhetoric and became a keystone of support for the Union of 1707. The geo-political threat of a divergent Jacobite Scotland first flared during the Scottish civil war of 1689-1691 and like the Irish Williamite War needs to be better understood by the Scottish public.

Dr Graeme S Millen, Associate Staff, School of Humanities, University of Dundee.

E-scooters must be licensed

IN England and Wales there are trials ending May 31, 2024 using hired e-scooters to determine whether private e-scooters should be allowed on UK roads. Riding a private e-scooter anywhere in the UK is illegal. It is legal to use e-scooters on private land in the UK with the owner's consent.

Over a million private e-scooters have been purchased, so no wonder there have been 23 deaths and over 4,000 injuries. If the UK Government, against overwhelming public opinion, decides that a million e-scooters should be allowed on UK roads then they must be registered, have a clear identification number, insurance and pay an annual fee. If a motorist breaks the law then the owner can be traced by the police. The DVLA has records of 40.8 million road vehicles. Surely it could monitor e-scooters and charge an appropriate yearly fee.Next on the to-do list, cyclists and e-bike riders?

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.