Would SNP winning a majority of seats really be a valid mandate?

This will come as a surprise to the First Minister who, as far as I understand, is sticking to a policy of majority of votes, not seats.

The easy route to an objective is not always the best one. It is indeed relatively easy to win the majority of seats in a first-past-the-post system. Even if the SNP were to lose, say, a third of their current seats at the next Westminster election, they would still hold the majority of them. Would this be a valid mandate to declare independence, as Andy seems to suggest? I rather think not.

READ MORE: A plea to all pro-indy politicians: keep focused on our primary goal

I await to be corrected by those older than me, but even in the days of my youth in the 1970s I seem to remember that is was SNP policy to consider the majority of seats as a mandate to start negotiations for independence, but the outcome of these negotiations was then to be put to a referendum.

To think that you can drag Scotland to independence with the majority of its electorate opposed to the very concept is fantasy politics. Does Andy really think that the majority who did not vote SNP or Green at the next Westminster election are going to sit at home and simply accept the situation? I know that Andy and many others, including myself, are impatient for independence but declaring independence on the basis of the majority of Westminster seats without the majority of Scotland’s voters behind you is a shortcut to very dangerous dead end.

Brian Lawson
Paisley

REGARDING Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp’s column (These five key arguments will win us indyref2) and Andy Anderson’s letter in Friday’s paper. It’s what we all have been expecting the SNP to come up with and produce for ages now: basic information, easy-to-read format, with facts for ordinary people to see all the benefits, such as naming a minimum figure of £220/week for pensioners. Andy also gives us all hope that there is a way to get there in his easy-to-read-and-follow route map, and using the UK laws. All we need to do is win the highest number of Scottish seats, NOT 50% of the votes. The next step – getting the SNP to act right away on the people’s mandate – might prove difficult as they already have had many mandates from us to do so.

Michael Maclennan
Brora

FOR many years there has been no shortage of politicians and commentators telling Scots why they desperately need independence. But never has one of these people said in clear, simple, practical terms what we need to do to become independent. Talk is easy and cheap; what we now need urgently is a practicable method of achieving our freedom.

Peter Swain
Dunbar

NO ifs, no buts, legally Scotland’s magnificent constitution, contained in the Claim of Right Act 1689, is part of a pre-nuptial agreement for the Treaty of Union. If the Union goes against the rights of the sovereign people of Scotland then the Treaty falls.

Our rights under the constitution include being protected from profiteering. Is there anyone in Scotland who likes their electricity bills doubling?

On top of this very exciting and welcome news, there is more. Scotland’s constitution states that the people are sovereign over not only the monarch but also over parliament, and the judges. So we don’t have to wait for our politicians to give permission for a vote and we don’t have to take the judges’ opinion either – if they stand in our way and deny the constitution’s principles of the common good of the people, we can stop them. People power over profiteers and politicians. Bliss!

READ MORE: Lord George Foulkes suggests UK Government should cut Scotland's budget

What can we, the people, do with the fact that our constitution remains a legally enforceable document and that the people have the power to tell parliament to stop harming our rights?

Happily, there is help – some non-party groups who unearthed the facts described above are organising to implement our rights. The groups are Salvo and the Scottish Sovereignty Research Group (SSRG).

Salvo’s website (salvo.scot) gives more detail about the constitution and has a declaration for us to sign – it states that the Treaty of Union has been broken and we demand under the Claim of Right the forming of the Assembly of the Communities. Obviously the more who sign up, the greater pressure on our politicians to start paying attention to the power that our constitution gives us to bring the Union to an end.

The SSRG has arranged a conference in Dunfermline starting this Friday. It will explain, debate and plan a practical way to assert our sovereignty. It only costs £10 a day – see scottishsovereigntyresearchgroup.org for more details.

I urge everyone to sign Salvo’s declaration and as many of you as are able to attend the Dunfermline conference. Who knows, it may go down in history as the first step to restoring Scotland’s independence!

Sarah Mackenzie
Ardindrean

THE doom-sayers keep telling us (incorrectly) that entry to the EU will mean that we that we are forced to adopt the Euro as our currency. On May 3 2000, for £1 we could get €1.752; on July 24 2022, we can only get €1.17 for £1. Yes, there have been fluctuations, but this means the pound has lost about one-third of its value. Much as I think we should have our own currency, it would not concern me if we had to adopt the Euro. The important matter being the relative strength of the currency in the pocket.

M Ross
Aviemore