ANYONE interested in the international organisations who are moving staff away from London because of Brexit may have missed the following news. Most of the UK media certainly seems to have overlooked it.

In recent days, Prudential has announced the relocation of some of its fund management operations to Brussels, which has also been chosen by Lloyds of London insurance. Meanwhile AIG is moving staff to Luxembourg, while Aviva and Legal and General have both opted for Dublin.

The writing is clearly on the wall for the City of London, even if the complacent media cannot read the message. What a pity Scotland is not already independent. Then we could be in the same position as Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg and be able to benefit from Brexit.

Peter Craigie Edinburgh

WHAT an excellent letter from Hugh H McLean (The National, May 31). It is to be hoped that all who support self-determination for Scotland but view the EU as seriously flawed will consider the advice offered by Hugh and reflect on the implications of placing such concerns ahead of achieving independence.

Once the Brexit process has reached the point for the remaining EU states to vote on the deal proposed, the people of Scotland should have the democratic opportunity to express their voice.

Should an independent Scotland then have the option to effectively remain in the EU through appropriate “transition arrangements”, it would seem logical – especially if significant changes are proposed that might undermine Scotland’s future democratic, economic or social ambitions – to offer another referendum on the final deal proposed and possible alternatives such as membership of EFTA.  It would seem unlikely on achieving the “right” to self-determination that those who still felt strongly that Scotland should not be a member of the EU would shy away from campaigning for such a referendum and that whatever the political make-up of Scotland’s reformed parliament that they would not be successful in bringing about this additional plebiscite if supported by a significant proportion of the Scottish public.

What would seem illogical in the meantime would be for those who have come to comprehend the extent to which the 1707 Union has increasingly failed the Scottish people to place their EU concerns ahead of achieving self-determination by voting for any of the pro-Union parties in the forthcoming General Election or, given the opportunity, voting against the independence for which so many have striven over many decades.

Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us if we prevent them from pursuing their dreams and aspirations as citizens of a socially just and truly outward-looking country.                        

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

WHILE I agree wholeheartedly with the comments of Hugh H McLean, there is one further point which needs to be made clear.  All the decisions of the EU since the UK became part of it have been influenced by the input, during the formulating discussions, of the Westminster government of the time.

This has resulted in many cases of a less favourable outcome, from a Scottish point of view, than would have been the case without the Westminster and London biased input. It should also be remembered by the farming community that the London government was very much against the continuation of the Common Agricultural Policy as we knew it, and it is only thanks to the input of the French government that Scotland has had the continued and much appreciated farming support over the years which has had such a wide influence on the entire Scottish countryside. If Scotland was a full member of The EU, its input and influence would be very different from that of Westminster as its policies and aims would be much more in tune with the aspirations of many of the member states.  

George M Mitchell, Sheriffmuir, Dunblane

THE Tories clearly seem to be panicking about the General Election. After May’s woeful performance before Paxman, I wonder if Corbyn’s late addition to the leaders’ debate might induce more panic in their ranks.

The Tories know Brexit is bad for our economy and bad for us. Sturgeon recognises this and may suspect that whatever Brexit deal emanates from the process will be a shoo-in for independence.

So what can the Tories do? They can lose the election. May is expendable. The Tories would take a hung parliament or a small Labour majority, let Corbyn lead the disaster, oppose him every step of the way, demand an election before the end of the next Parliament and position themselves as the saviours of the nation –Brexit failure not on their watch. I’m still not certain Brexit will happen. It makes no difference to my zeal for Scotland to leave the UK, but I do hope SNP have a plan B.

All hypothetical of course, but in all my years I have never seen the Tories run such a lacklustre campaign with such an incompetent leader. They called the election; they either got it wrong or are working to a deliberate alternative agenda. If the will of the city and business is to resist Brexit, this may be their chosen way to achieve it.

Jim Taylor, Edinburgh

IT must be said that Jeremy Corbyn has made a significant contribution to the chaos in “Scottish” Labour (Labour in turmoil as Corbyn says yes to indyref talks, The National, May 30) by saying there will be no deals with the SNP at Westminster and leading the Labour Party through the lobbies there supporting the Tories so often. “Scottish” Labour could be forgiven for confusing this with tacit support for Tory policy.

Between them, Corbyn and Kezia Dugdale have seen “Scottish” Labour drop from being the official opposition in Holyrood and then be left without control of a single council. There are “Scottish” Labour councillors in open and covert alliance with the Tories all over the country, with some still waiting until after the General Election before announcing what they are doing. “Scottish” Labour – almost policy free, except for opposing everything proposed by the SNP.

John Jamieson, South Queensferry