I VOTED to Remain in the EU. I felt I knew very little regarding how the EU works and the information put out in the campaign was not at all helpful. It is likely that a great number of voters had no real knowledge of what they were voting for either way.

It is appalling the way it was rushed through.

When the “negotiations” are complete the voters ought to be asked to say yes or no to the final programme.

The future of the country is too important for the politicians to have carte blanche.

Human Rights won through EU laws MUST be kept and respected by the UK Government. Anything else would be an insult to all those men and women who campaigned for many years to try to get fairness into UK law.

I know many in Scotland who are “immigrants” and when I hear of calls to send them home I tell folk: THEY ARE HOME.

I want independence for Scotland with the open view that all are welcome here, and fair play the heart of all future Scottish policy whoever is in the majority in Hollyrood.

Trevor Swistchew Address supplied The rest of Europe is ready to stand with Scotland I WAS very moved by the article by Alyn Smith, in which he described his experience at the 60-year celebrations in Rome (Alyn Smith: Independence is the lifeboat we need to save us from being sunk by Brexit, The National, March 29).

As an Italian citizen, educated in the UK, having lived and worked in at least 10 EU countries to date, with a much-loved British daughter living in Edinburgh, I am disgusted, but not surprised, that the unelected Ms May and her shower of English public schoolboys have brought us to this pass, potentially stealing my only child’s ability to follow in my footsteps and live and work wherever she pleases in our great Union.

I, too, come from a proud nation, a founding member of the EU, with countless contributions to Western civilization stretching back through the centuries. We know, deep in our bones, that some things are worth fighting for, and that not everything is about money. If you, as a nation, young and old, overcome your fear of the unknown, and vote for independence, to stay a part of our Union and stand with us, I swear, by all that is holy, we will stand with you, and face the challenges together, regardless of the cost. Working together, in a spirit of collaboration and mutual respect, we can fix the many things that need fixing in our EU.

For those amongst your readers uncertain of what the future could be as an independent nation, I urge you to look no further than your Gaelic neighbour, Ireland, who faced all the same uncertainty and same fear-promoting campaign from Great Britain about the challenges of leaving. Today, in spite of having had hard times and many challenges, the number of Irishmen who would advocate a return to British rule would easily fit in a small pub. Same for Malta and Cyprus.

The words of your unofficial national anthem Flower of Scotland say it all. We would ALL, from Portugal to Moldova, welcome seeing their like again. It has been many centuries since we saw an independent Scotland, but those of us with long memories remember it was an honourable partner that lived up to is word, with whom we would be proud to stand. We hope it is reborn soon.

Best regards and good luck with ScotRef.

Robert Altinger
Asti, Italy

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BACK in the 1960s Bob Hilliard and Burt Bacharach wrote a popular children’s ditty, Three Wheels On My Wagon, telling the fateful journey of a “Prairie Schooner” trying to escape from pursuing Comanches. These unfortunate travellers at least started by being down to just three wheels whereas our hapless May starts with not only no wheels but no axles either. It is now screamingly obvious that the Tories had no plan before this fiasco and even now they are showing by their total incompetence that their planning and implementation team are acting as a bunch of individualistic prima donnas singing from different hymn sheets.

When it came to drafting the Article 50 order the lack of the promised consultation became painfully obvious when it was noticed that Gibraltar had been omitted. However Spain wasn’t slow in noticing this omission and quickly stuck another boot into May’s, well, what do I call it, for it certainly is not a “plan”? When you see her interviewed she always seems to be thrown when an interviewer tosses her a googly and she reverts to her pre-prepared mantra, in fact she gives a very good impression of a rabbit caught in the headlights.

The really worrying thing is that in about 18 months time May hopes that there will an agreement on the table. This is where it gets ridiculous. Scotland’s fate will be decided by the 27 remaining EU members – including Luxembourg, with a population smaller than Glasgow – but the really frustrating thing is that under Belgian law their devolved assemblies get to vote. So, Theresa May, can you honestly look the people of Scotland straight in the eye and tell us why she thinks it’s OK for the devolved government of Wallonia, population 3.5 million, to decide Scotland’s fate and why the Scottish people are to be denied the same democratic right?

Charlie Gallagher
Shetland


I MUST confess that I am enjoying the various “ difficulties” beginning to emerge as Theresa May and her Brexiteers come up against the EU negotiators.

The hard line which Europe and especially Spain are likely to take over Gibraltar should prove to give the UK some considerable problems. It is hard to believe they did not see this coming and were not more prepared for it. But then again, they were too busy telling Scotland that Spain would prevent an independent Scotland joining the EU in case it gave those troublesome Catalans the wrong ideas. So now Gibraltar, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in Europe, finds itself caught up in a constitutional nightmare.

I can, however, see and fervently hope for a scenario to emerge that could work to our advantage. I believe that UK will suddenly find that a referendum can and should be allowed for Gibraltar to determine whether it wishes to remain a British Protectorate. This will be thought convenient and judicious as UK is confident Gibraltar will vote yes and so give grounds for resisting Spain.

This whole approach will be seen for what it is, a cynical and opportunistic ploy to frustrate Europe/Spain and force its own agenda and priorities. Fair-minded and reasonable observers must surely wonder why what is good enough for the Protectorate of Gibraltar should not also be even more appropriate for the nation state of Scotland.

JF Davidson
Bonnyrigg