IN the Sunday National Ruth Wishart describes the problems of removing Trident from Scottish waters after Scotland becomes independent (Londoncentric apologists for Trident have independence in their sights, May 1). One of these is the possibility that England would find itself unable to hold on to Trident and would thus become by default stripped of this illegal capacity. England is geographically most unsuitable as a base, as the piece reports. The future reduction to the English Exchequer after the independence of Scotland might be a factor.
If the subject is pursued further into international politics, it may be that this reveals further obstacles in front of our self-determination. These lie in the history of the UN. When this was formed between 1942 and 1945 the US ,UK, USSR, France and China gave themselves permanent seats on the Security Council along with a veto on the proposals of member states. There is pressure to change this and extend seats to India, Indonesia, Brazil and other contemporary giants. If the UK lost its main claim to a seat, its nuclear capacity, this would not be favoured by the USA or France as it would at least leave them more exposed or trigger big-scale change.
READ MORE: Scotland should think twice before joining new arms race with Russia
Thus we can expect not only resistance from the UK, but also the the USA and in the guise of France, from the EU. It is dizzying to feel that Scotland might be the key to unlocking the post-Second World War status, with the threats and fears this unleashes. However, if it leads to more international democracy in the UN, this may in turn allow the world to accept that peace is a much more efficient way to manage our planet. Certainly the examples of Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq must tell us that the status quo is not worth keeping. Trident must go. Then Ruth and her devoted readers will be happy little voters.
Iain WD Forde
Scotlandwell
IT didn’t surprise me in the least to read that “our” very own Lord Haw Haw doesn’t think thinks Scots is a language (Fury as Foulkes claims Scots is ‘not a language’, May 2). For years he’s been presenting all the symptoms of being a faithful, loyal-whatever, self-hating, self-dismissing colonial clone, the classic Macaulayan creation.
Of course Scots is a distinct language and speech shaped by a people with a distinct social psychology, who see and express things in its terms. English has its own very different socio-psychological speech, which as result creates a different kind of society.
READ MORE: Scottish writer Billy Kay speaks out over Scots language abuse after Holyrood speech
Some years ago, the Royal Bank brought out a translation of some of Burns’s poems into English. The result was as soulless as it was execrable. “Auld lang syne”, for example, became “days of jolly old yore”. The unique feeling that made Burns’s work great, and which resonated so deeply with his Scots audience, was gone.
If you want a language that isn’t a language, look no further than English. English is technically not a language at all but a creole, meaning a speech put together from bits of various other, proper languages. It’s mainly French, in fact. In Lord Haw Haw’s logic, that means it is French and nothing else. It is Frankenspeech.
READ MORE: George Foulkes shows that eight years on, Labour still delight in putting Scotland down
His slip gives away the game, which is that the “Union” has never been about uniting two sovereign national equals, but about scrapping Scotland (the response to “breaking up Britain”, as if that was one entity and not an empire that deserves to be “broken up”).
What will be our chief Colonial Kapo’s next pronouncement?
That Scotland, like the Ukraine, isn’t a nation?
Ian McQueen
Dumfries
I’D just like to say to George Foulkes that gibberish isn’t a language!
Andrew Smith
via email
AS well as Nancy Nicolson’s excellent “Listen tae the Teacher” song about the Caithness language, I recommend “The New Teacher” by Jim Douglas with its brilliant chorus that begins:
“Noo is a dove a doo Da, is a doo a dove?
“Is a cow a coo Da, a sparrow just a speug?”
Jack Foley
Hamilton
HAVING spent a wonderful week back in Scotland, the only minor disappointment has been, sad to say, the letters pages here in The National.
Reminding ourselves on a daily basis that we are ruled by lying, corrupt, self-entitled psychopaths in Westminster, and that independence is the only solution, is clearly true, but not useful.
I believe your readers have the intelligence and ability to drive the major issues of the new constitution and citizens’ assemblies, which in themselves will be indy vote-winners.
These assemblies must have the authority to hold our politicians to account – remember, they work for us. These initiatives need to come from the people and not the politicians.
Even in an independent Scotland, turkeys will not vote for Christmas.
CE Ayr
Cavalaire sur Mer, France
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