Your views

Independence or outdependence?
Dear Sir,
In your excellent coverage of the Scottish independence debate so far, I wonder if you find it curious that Alex Salmond’sonly two high profile supporters to date are either Irish or half Irish.
The first, Sean Connery, although he had a Scottish mother, owes his names to his paternal ancestors who settled in Scotland in the 1800’s – probably driven out of southern Ireland by the potato famine. He now lives in the Bahamas, and believes that independence would be good for Scottish culture and its film industry.
The second, Willie Walsh, is all Irish and although based in London as head of IAG, the holding company for British Airways and Iberia, he retains his Irish citizenship. His argument that independence would be good for travellers and tourism in Salmond’s promised land, seems to be based on the spurious basis that an independent Scotland would reduce or abolish Air Passenger Duty, thus helping to fatten BA’s profits on it Scottish routes.
Apart from their obvious self-interest in single issues, you would thinkthat such luminaries would recognise that there is a lot more to be considered in thewhole question of independence, or in the obvious advantages of remaining part of a strong Union.
In light of the many pronouncements in recent days from more creditable Scottish voices in favour of the Union,highlighting the dire financial consequences of independence, it looks as if blustering, bullying, delusional Salmond is scraping the whisky barrel for his extremely left wing cause and, hopefully, as we shall see in September, a monumental lost cause.
Andrew Ferguson
Palma de Mallorca