A NUMBER of correspondents in your Letters Pages on Monday (December 1) prefer to focus their ire on the theoretical prospect of Scottish independence, but the real and imminent dangers are those presented by Brexit. While some correspondents criticise the SNP for "playing constitutional politics" in the middle of a global pandemic, that is exactly what Boris Johnson and his ideologues are pursuing, even though it is likely to lead, as the ever-excellent Ian McConnell has frequently pointed out, to an economic disaster, with exports frozen and Kent log-jammed with lorries and "Farage garages". The sensible option would be to postpone Brexit for another year at least; but sense and Brexit were seldom comfortable bedfellows.

The other aspect of Brexit that needs to be highlighted is that it provides the political justification for independence. While Unionists may wish to gloss over this, one of the key planks in the No campaign was that the Union presented the best path to Scotland remaining within the EU; indeed those European citizens able to vote in 2014 did so on the premise and promise that a No vote guaranteed the status quo. How wrong they and we were. This betrayal trumps the unionist mantra of "once in a generation".

While one may feel some sympathy for those who voted No in 2014 and Remain in 2016, it is hard to feel any for those No voters who voted Leave, should Scottish independence come to pass. One is reminded of Little Richard singing "He got what he wanted, but he lost what he had".

Larry Cheyne, Bishopbriggs.

THERE were numerous letters today (December 1) from unionists yet again criticising Nicola Sturgeon for talking about independence when she should be concentrating on the pandemic. Yet without any sense of hypocrisy, these same folk have also criticised her in the past for accepting the responsibility for presenting regular updates about that very pandemic and its effects on our citizens.

Unfortunately, they never criticise Boris Johnson for dodging that onerous responsibility and passing it on to whoever of his incompetent Cabinet happens to have time on his hands. Nor do they ever criticise him for working to promote his Internal Market Bill, which will drastically reduce powers in all three devolved administrations, or for continuing his own and his civil servants’ concentration on Brexit during that same pandemic, which is not supposed to leave Ms Sturgeon any time for anything else.

Moreover, these critics never mention the fact that we now have in Westminster a Minister for the Union and Michael Gove heading a special Union Unit, specifically working on the very subject for which our FM is not supposed to have time. That makes three major agendas which these critics seem happy for Mr Johnson and co to concentrate on while fighting a pandemic, whilst it is unacceptable for the FM to give the slightest consideration to anything else.

Do “people in glasshouses…” perhaps spring to mind?

P Davidson, Falkirk.

I REFER to Ian Forbes’s letter (December 1) in which he claims that “at a time when we are still struggling with a serious worldwide pandemic, and people in Scotland are still dying from Covid in significant numbers, it is utterly reprehensible that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are devoting time and energy to discussing and planning for a second independence referendum”.

He is obviously following the example of Douglas Ross, the Conservative leader in Scotland who tweeted: "Even in the middle of a pandemic, the SNP’s priority is independence above everything”.

David Allen Green, the English lawyer and writer who "dislikes all forms of nationalism”, pointed out in his Law and Policy Blog (December 1) that “the United Kingdom government, in the middle of a pandemic, prioritised independence above everything else. In particular, the United Kingdom government refused any extension to the Brexit transition period.”

Point well made.

John Milne, Uddingston.

REPORTS abound to the effect that the majority of the Scottish population are now in favour of independence and this “improvement” is put down to a comparison of performances on the Covid platform by First Minister Sturgeon and Prime Minister Johnson. I would like to remind everyone that independence is for life whereas Boris Johnson is only for another four years (at most). Think carefully before committing.

Alan McGibbon, Paisley.

IAIN Macwhirter may very well be correct that the issue of Indyref2 will end up in court ("One way or another, Indyref2 is likely to end up in court", The Herald, December 2). When it does, it appears that the case for Holyrood holding its own referendum will be based on the contention that it would not intrude on a reserved issue.

In other words, the Scottish Government will be arguing along the lines of "yes, M'lud, our referendum will be a meaningless charade designed only to have validity in the eyes of our own gullible supporters. It will have no validity whatsoever."

And most of Scotland will believe the same.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow G13.

Read more: Letters: Disgraceful Covid figures must halt preparations for indyref2