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Not so glorious union

In reply to Bill Williams (SA April 8) I hear you’re from Glasgow, maybe you should go back there and ask your kin why they voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU (67 per cent remain).

You’d do well to remember that this Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that you’re so fond of now, after watching tourists singing land of hope and glory, is the same union that your ancestors had no say in joining, and countless bloody battles were fought and died against it.

It’s funny that the only custom from Scotland you could think of was the Highland games; which was banned by the English after the battle of Culloden, along with tartan, Gaelic and the bagpipe.

The only way the English could subdue the Scots was to erase their identity, which they’ve successfully done to you. Don’t forget that the Lairds who bent the knee, then went on to clear the Highlands. As much as I hate all politicians, I trust the European parliament more than I trust Westminster.

Just compare the number of Ukip MEPs to the number of Ukip MPs and tell me if that isn’t democratic.

Mark Williams, Old Town

Brexit blank sheet

In 2002, David Davis said that a referendum “can be a dangerous tool…referendums should be held when people know exactly what they are getting… We should not ask people to vote on a blank sheet of paper and tell them to trust us to fill in the details afterwards.”

Theresa May has made it her mission to be the Prime Minister that delivers Brexit. She has taken the blank sheet of paper and filled in the details with her universally hated deal.

We voted to leave the EU, her deal gets us out of the EU, so why do apparently only 14 per cent of people support it rather than 52 per cent? Hard Brexiteer MPs have taken a similar approach and have filled in the blank sheet of paper with a no-deal. The fact that this won’t deliver any of the promises of the leave campaign in 2016 (beyond the simplistic truth of leaving the EU) doesn’t seem to bother them.

The referendum was, as everyone knows, advisory. Brexiters will remind us of David Cameron’s promise to implement the result, but I also remember him promising us the greenest government ever.

I fail to see why the current parliament should have their hands tied because of something Cameron promised shortly before he quit. David Davis was right, so let’s have another referendum and let the people fill in the blank sheet of paper.

Neil Mercer, Maidstone Road

Stop mud-slinging

So, we are to have an exploratory report on the timing of local elections (SA April 6). This is to decide whether to continue with the present election of one third of the council every year, or to vote for the whole council once every four years.

Why is such a report needed? And how much will it cost? Do our present councillors not already know enough to be able to debate the subject? If not, why not?

One of the major problems with local government is that, over the past 20 years or so, it has become saturated with party politics whereas most of the issues it should be dealing with have nothing to do with party ideology. What have pot-holes to do with party? Or car parking, refuse collection or the provision of other public services? The basic principle of democracy is that a locality should elect the person whom they think will represent them best.

Let us hope that, in the forthcoming elections in May, candidates of all parties will concentrate on LOCAL issues – and refrain from mud-slinging.

Malcolm Morrison, Old Town