IN my letter to The National of July 30 2018 I covered the prospect of the possible shortages we are now hearing about, and suggested that the answer to panic buying could be rationing to ensure the fair distribution of available food and medicines etc. I also said that black markets would spring up and that the well-to-do would fare better than others. Those black markets are probably with us even now.

So, despite the usual Tory lies about everything being under control and  assurances that “we are better prepared than ever before”, we had better take stock and realise the mess they are getting us into. I do not remember an “ever before” like this. Do you? So the time has come, rationing should be introduced NOW!

Michael Gove has taken on the No-Deal Brexit task with his usual display of enthusiasm – after all, the pay is good. But surely even he knows that he has been set up. At the last General Election he denounced Mr Johnson for being an unsuitable prime ministerial candidate (which reminds me of the Hitler Youth denouncing their own parents in the 1930s and 40s). Does anyone believe that will have been forgotten? So when the civil unrest starts, he will be the first target. Michael Corleone could not have planned it better.

And there is every possibility that there will be civil unrest. Police Scotland has already told us of its preparations – what are the plans for the rest of the UK? Is this Tory government as well prepared as they were for the miners’ strike? Have you noticed the police horses seem to be even heavier these days? It doesn’t bear thinking about. And this is all being brought about by the deliberate actions of a government under the control of a Prime Minister the country did not elect.

A final thought. In 2016 one of the strong cases put in favour of Brexit was the fear of Turkey joining the EU and their citizens coming here. Has that view changed in the scenario of a Turkish enterprise saving thousands of jobs in the “British” steel industry?

Robert Johnston
Airdrie

I THINK it is time for the Yes movement to consider disabusing itself of the notion that there is going to be a hard No-Deal Brexit.

We should remember that at present we are in the middle of a negotiating period where various red herrings are let loose. Also, at the end of the day it will probably be in the interests of both the UK Government and the EU to soften at least the transitional exit terms if there appears to be no other agreement before October 31.

This type of arrangement would also make sense in that the apparent integrity of both parties would be preserved and, in general terms, life would go on more or less as before, with a final agreement on the backstop nudged down the road just a little bit further.

The question of what the Yes movement’s tactics should be in such a scenario might be worth consideration.

Bob Millar
Hamilton

I AM at a loss to follow John F Davidson’s reasoning in his letter which references me (August 21). According to the UN Charter, the Scottish Claim of Right and indeed the Smith Commission, Scotland has an inalienable right to chose independence if that is the majority will of the people. A referendum is politically the surest and clearest way to determine and decide this.

This is the position of the Scottish Government. This is the correct position and it is the divisionists and confusionists who are talking about Plan Bs and Plan Cs that are unintentionally conceding our right and undermining our position.

The fact that the Electoral Commission is talking about the wording and form of a referendum indicates that they know we are not going to be refused one. One up to Nicola.

David McEwan Hill
Sandbank, Argyll

HAVING followed the saga of the Named Persons scheme from the outset, I remain deeply suspicious of the actual motives are of the groups, including religious fundamentalists, equipped with funds from outside the UK to finance their comprehensive campaign to discredit the scheme through misinformation and downright lies.

Leading the strategy to diminish the protection and rights of of our children is the odious Simon Calvert, campaign face of a weird assortment of individuals who want to ensure that genuine child protection agencies have no locus in family life, where for them the children appear to be possessions and not people.

By constantly referring to “state snoopers”, Calvert is appealing to a public which hasn’t been given the full picture of what the Supreme Court described as the “undoubtedly benign intention” of the scheme and playing on their basest fears. His repetitive use of an unfounded negative mantra tells us all we need to know about the actual validity of his case.

It’s time the media faced Calvert down and asked him to tell us specifically who these “state snoopers” are that the state intends to employ to spy on families.

Would they by any chance be teachers, social workers, health care or child protection workers? Not particularly appropriate MI5 material, I would have thought.

Douglas Turner
Edinburgh

KEVIN McKenna’s speculation on life after Brexit confirmed our worries, with some amusing angles (It’s every man for himself after a No Deal. Let the Brexit Games begin!, August 21). You couldn’t make a movie on a script like this, but to add irony the Mad Max photograph should have been adjusted.

Instead of showing the American muscle cars, the Scots would use Massey Ferguson tractors made in Kilmarnock and Hillman Imps from Linwood. After all, our strength as Scots is in our heads, and the muscles are used to achieve everything we need, without bullets.

Kenneth HW Campbell
Troon