Donald Trump’s victory has of course sparked much debate on our Letters Pages.

Yesterday two of our readers raised concerns over what his presidency would mean for Scotland, particularly with regards to Trident and Faslane.

👉 Read those letters here


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Jill Stephenson of Edinburgh writes:

"ISOBEL Lindsay is scaremongering by claiming that 'Trump’s finger [will be] on the Faslane nuclear trigger'. The UK nuclear weapons system is operationally independent. Why she thinks Scotland has 'a big target on our backs' when the countries most at risk of attack by an aggressive Russia are those without nuclear weapons - after Ukraine (which used to have them), the Baltic States and Moldova - is a mystery. Which nuclear power has been attacked?

Stan Grodynski, alongside Ms Lindsay, is fantasising again. He somehow manages to link his obsession with Scottish separatism to Donald Trump’s imminent assumption of power (which I do not welcome). Mr Grodynski imagines that 'our European allies' would be delighted to 'work more closely with an independent Scotland free of nuclear weapons'. He misses the point that the UK and France provide a nuclear umbrella under which 'our European allies' shelter, and that Nato, at least, would not look favourably on a secessionist Scotland that expelled nuclear weapons (if it could).

Those who favour Scottish secession need to provide a clear business plan for their imagined new country if they are going to win over a majority. They cannot do that, so they wander off into dreamland about abandoning nuclear weapons when some of the most dangerous regimes on the planet have them and our first duty is to defend ourselves. It really isn’t very bright."