Letters I: Quantitative easing does not benefit the non-rich

With regard to the further £170 billion of quantitative easing (money printing to us ordinary folks), which is equivalent to £2,600 per head of the UK population, let us hope that this does not similarly end up in the hands of the rich kids, as the last £375bn, which was worth £6,000 per head, certainly did, when the banking system tasked with getting that money into the economy merely patched up its own balance sheets, and with no takers for the rest, simply gave it to rich customers to play with.

It would surely make more sense to inject quantitative easing directly into private bank accounts, pay off individual credit cards, or just throw the stuff out of helicopters.

That way it would get into the economy and have an effect. Any action to improve matters that involves the banking system is doomed to failure, as history repeatedly shows.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross

I’m pro-indy but not ashamed of my English roots

ASK Angry had a column on the independence march, which included this: “For example, English Scots for Yes were a charming group I hadn’t interacted with before, and their welcomed flying of the St George’s Cross was a symbol of the peace and understanding that exemplifies the independence movement.” (Cynical? No, indy rallies are all about looking cool, The National, August 4).

While English Scots for Yes are charming, they were not flying the Cross of St George. It was a private initiative that I started on Twitter. In the event, I was joined by another family who also had one. Apart from one displayed by a Biker for Yes, ours were the only St George flags about.

So while I agree it is symbolic of inclusiveness it was a step taken, with some small trepidation by an individual, after some serious doubts were expressed by various people on Twitter, although the response was largely positive. I am firmly pro-Independence, but am not ashamed my English origins. I am happy to be Scottish by choice. You can find me on Twitter as @chrisndundee.

Christopher Neill, Dundee

I AM pleased that attention is finally being drawn to the absence of programming by the BBC for their Scottish licence fee payers. This is definitely not a recent thing and action should have been taken years ago to ensure that licence fees were spent properly for programming which was relevant, varied and also localised.

I remember being primary school age in the 1970s when there were no computers, mobile phones, games consoles or even children’s indoor play centres to entertain us during wet Scottish school holidays. We therefore depended on TV to amuse us. Unfortunately, we usually found that children’s holiday TV programmes did not actually begin until the English schools were on their break.

I therefore grew to adulthood always seeing that the BBC was only ever interested in the “British” in its title being served if the licence payers lived on a particular side of a border.

Thinking about it now, I doubt if there could ever be a real change and that it would be better to have our own Scottish independent broadcaster.

Marie McIlwham, Crookston

IT was a pleasure to read Ruth Wishart’s article on the departure of Dame Lowell Goddard as chair of the British Government’s inquiry into child abuse (Sex abuse inquiry may be too much for any chair to handle, The National, August 6). As she says, Dame Goddard’s resignation is the third in two years and perhaps the strangest.

She is now to be quizzed by a committee of MPs as to the reasons for her extraordinary decision to leave this role without notice after only a few months and to return to New Zealand. Well, good luck to them. For she almost certainly signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of her contract of employment and is lawyer enough to know how constrained she is.

What is clear is that this ill-fated inquiry is yet another example of the British establishment’s ability to confuse and confound any attempt to expose its behaviour. So I fear we are facing an Augean stable full of filth and one that will take years to cleanse, if the British state should last so long.

Peter Craigie, Edinburgh

THERE has been much talk of the historical ethnic cleansing that has taken place over the centuries in our fair country and it does appear that there is a huge gap in our historical understanding of these times past. Perhaps what we need is to open a Museum of Historical Community gathering together the clan stories, their destinations and the outcomes to the lands left behind – a guaranteed tourist hit,

I would imagine . If only we knew of someone suitably qualified who was looking for a job? Wait, does anybody know Kathryn Brain’s phone number?
Neil Morison, Dornie

THE article on “Blueprint for Independence” is indeed good marketing, but unfortunately the kind of thing which has in the past been seen by many voters as encouraging SNP dishonesty.

The blueprint also does not consider the SNP supporters who voted for Brexit. They may be convinced when they realise how difficult it will be for the UK to renegotiate the huge number of trade treaties Europe provided us with.

Questions about European democracy can be answered by referring people to academic experts – their opinions are respectful of the role of European democracy and laws in a global world (globalisation needs inter-county cooperation and regulation). We all need to know more about Brexit-related issues so that people (of all political persuasions) come to see the pro-Europe approach of the SNP as sensible.
Andrew Vass
Edinburgh

FOR indy to be won there needs to be compelling evidence that Scotland would be equally or more prosperous. That simply ain’t there. The 11 points are mainly about talking, but talking what? Dodgy figures or citing “hope over fear”?

Let’s be honest: Scotland has no chance of automatic entry to EU; its deficit is too high. If an honest case is made for indy at this juncture, it is unwinnable. How do you convince folks to walk into more hardship?

Stephen Pollock
via thenational.scot

Letters II: The winning strategy is clear – putting it into action is the hard part