JOHN Edgar’s letter calling into question Jean-Claude Juncker’s attitude to Scotland (Has Juncker not noticed indyref2 wave of support, The National, March 28) displays ignorance of the fundamental terms under which the European commissioners operate. They do not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign member state.

Moreover, the restriction I referred to above would have required Mr Juncker to be very circumspect in his answers to any interview, especially one which took place before Article 50 was invoked. Therefore the pronouncement made by Mr Juncker in a Financial Times interview (and reported as such in the National on March 25) must be viewed in the context of that restriction.

I will be much more interested in the pronouncements made after Article 50 is invoked and at that time it will be the negotiators and not the commissioners who will be heard.
Brenda Steele
Fortrose

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Scotland being ignored is not a ‘Union of equals’

YESTERDAY, the democratically-elected Scottish Parliament backed Nicola Sturgeon’s call for an independence referendum. However, the unelected Prime Minister at Westminster has said she will block Scotland’s democratic right to vote on its constitutional future (Theresa May admits Scots will know terms of Brexit deal by the time of indyref2, The National, March 27).

The SNP Government, along with the Greens, are only sticking to their manifesto pledge that they would hold a second referendum if there was a material change, such as Scotland being dragged out of Europe against its will, This is a position I, like most who voted SNP or Greens, understood and support.

Now we are being told it does not matter what the democratic wishes of the Scottish people are, we have to toe the line and be dictated to by a government that has only one elected MP in Scotland.

Let’s not forget that 62 per cent of Scots voted to remain in the European Union, all 32 local authority areas had a majority to remain, including, ironically enough, the one represented by the only Tory MP north of the Border, who, incidentally, also campaigned for and voted to remain.

In fact, every one of Scotland’s 59 MPs supported remaining in the EU.

So there you have it folks, despite the vast majority voting to remain, our parliament voting to remain, our MPs supporting remain, our local authorities supporting remain, unelected Teresa May is going to attempt to block our democratic right to decide our own future.

I seem to remember the phrase “A Union of equals” being bandied about during the last independence campaign. I don’t think, by any stretch of the imagination, that anyone could view the disgraceful fashion in which Scotland’s democratic wishes are being completely ignored, as being somehow equal treatment, the facts suggest the opposite.

Indeed, the undemocratic way in which Westminster is riding roughshod over the Scottish people’s wishes is more akin to that of how a colonial power treats its colonies than that of the relationship between two nations in a voluntary union. Don’t get angry, get organised!

Charlie Sherry
Bowling, West Dunbartonshire

EVERY time that we are called on to vote we are expected to make a decision based on the manifesto information. We do not know if the candidate for whom we vote will be elected.

We do not know if the candidate’s party will be elected. We do not know if the manifesto commitments will be delivered. We do not get a trial period. That is how politics works. Why should an independence referendum based on Brexit be any different?
John Jamieson
South Queensferry

I AM not aware of any genealogical connections between Henry VIII and Theresa May (May’s last chance, The National, March 27) but they share some very interesting similarities in their attempts to retain and extend their personal power. Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome over purely selfish reasons; today Theresa May echoes this with her break from the inheritors of the Treaty of Rome, the EU, for reasons that are purely party political.

Henry ushered in The Divine Right of Kings and used the Royal Prerogative to bolster his power and neuter dissent while Theresa May, having failed in her own use of the Royal Prerogative, is hoping that the Great Repeal Act will offer similar advantages to her and her coterie of Brexiteers as they attempt to circumvent parliamentary scrutiny for the redistribution of powers from Brussels .

Like Henry, who found the Scots an irritant that couldn’t be ignored as he was preparing for war on the continent, so too Theresa May has a problem with the Scots just as she is about to embark on a battle with Europe. Henry initiated war with the Scots, the “Rough Wooing”, which lasted eight years; unfortunately for Theresa a similar strategy is unavailable to her to silence these rebellious Scots, although she is attempting to put the Scottish problem on a back-burner for a similar period.

Henry even tried to neutralise the Scottish problem by marrying his son to the young Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately for Theresa May, it looks like there is no similar option on that front!
James Mills
Johnstone

THE new oil field off Shetland (Giant oil field discovered off Shetland is the biggest this century, The National, March 28) certainly gives Theresa May a reason to ensure her Union stays together.

It gives her another asset to trade off against the UK’s deficit and borrowing requirement needed for its survival. Hopefully this will become transparent to all in Scotland and we’ll decide we’ve spent enough time being the milchkuh of the UK. Just let’s hope we’re independent before the asset is lost forever.
Catriona Grigg
Embo

HURRICANE Energy has made a further oil discovery west of the Shetland Islands. This adds to a series of successful wells drilled by Hurricane in a geological formation that looks likely to be the biggest new oil discovery beneath UK waters this century. It won’t be long before we hear the strident cry “It’s Scotland’s Oil”.
Clark Cross
Linlithgow