IN these crazy, mixed-up and confused times of Brexit, one thing comes across clear on some of the international news interviews.

It’s very refreshing to see government ministers of Malta/Latvia/Estonia etc being given air time to express their thoughts to a global audience on the Westminster/EU debate.

The EU provides the small states with a voice, a platform and an equal footing to express such opinions.

What does Westminster do to Scotland/Northern Ireland/Wales? It tells them to be quiet.

Currently there are 10 EU member States with lower populations than Scotland, with Denmark, Finland and Slovakia having almost identical populations to Scotland. All these states have a far more outspoken, influential, and powerful presence on world matters than Scotland. Mostly due to their EU membership.

The EU is not the best thing since sliced bread, but it’s not too bad. Sort out some the internal problems – which to be honest, anything of that magnitude is bound to have – and it’s starting to look like a real saviour of the smaller states.

Dougie Gray
Dunbar

WITH some kind of botched Brexit deal delayed, it’s perhaps time to reflect on the last few disastrous years of elections, referendums and of course the continuing chaos of Brexit. In Westminster there has been incompetence on a grand scale, with divided and indecisive leadership and false promises from a privileged and rich elite establishment in decline.

I believe most of us know in our hearts and minds that the kind of Scotland we want to live in and pass on to our children is no longer possible within the centralised constraints of a narrow, inward-looking UK that has no regard for the devolved parliaments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and indeed that of the European Union.

At the time, remember, the Tory party was the only Unionist party to strongly vote against devolution which has, even with limited powers, done well for Scotland in the last 20 years under various political administrations, including the SNP.

I therefore urge people to join their local Yes campaign group under the auspices of the Scottish Independence Convention and work towards a fairer and more prosperous country for the benefit of those who live and work in our richly endowed land.

Grant Frazer
Newtonmore

“BREXIT means Brexit” has been Theresa May’s meaningless PR-driven mantra for too long.

“No deal means no deal” is to be her new mantra, as we crash and burn towards what clearly is going to be a disaster for the UK, and totally against what the majority of us in Scotland want.

Surely, in law, if we are negotiating to buy a house or anything else, and then decided we do not want that deal to be concluded, then legally that is the end of it. Saying no deal means no deal.

That is why all of us need to come together and support the call for a people’s vote.

Supporting the people’s vote does not commit anyone to independence for Scotland, it is about saving our society from what is clearly horrendous economic, social and life-changing circumstances, which will massively effect our children and grandchildren, long after we have left this life.

Max Cruickshank
Glasgow

I AGREE with Hugh McLean’s assertions (Letters, October 18) that an independent Scotland would have representatives at Europe’s top table involved in making policies, and also an ambassador to the EU and a commissioner in the European Commission. In addition, it would become a member of the United Nations and other international agencies and play a full part in the modern world.

Theresa May has failed to deliver a good deal that would benefit the UK, so the time has come for her and her Cabinet to resign and hold a General Election. I appreciate that may not suit her party or her DUP supporters, but hopefully she will put the interests of the country before those of the Conservative party.

Thomas L Inglis
Fintry

I WATCHED the BBC news on Wednesday night, and they have not got a clue about Brexit. They say that it is still not clear how the EU will react to Theresa May’s proposals. I am 100% certain they will send her home again to think again.

Get me a job with the BBC – I will tell the public the facts. Scotland is doomed if stall-it May gets her way.

Gus Brooks, Peebles
via text

I WRITE on behalf of myself and wife to thank Lesley Riddoch for her excellent article on the book by Gabriella Bennett where she exposes the utter nonsense about rural life (Why I won’t bother to coorie down with this book on a non-existent trend, October 18).

This book for me was the ramblings of someone with too much money and too much time on her hands.

Both my wife and myself where brought up in rural Scotland and our parents had little time to spare on conversing with nature, they were usually battling it to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

The pleasures the author talks about are probably the domain of those who have time and money to converse with nature in the way she talks about.

Rural Scotland will never be an easy place to make a living – it requires grit, strength, determination and a bloody good sense of humour.

As for the word coorie, to us at least it meant come and get warm by the fire or bed.

Books of this type give people the wrong impression of rural Scotland, as for most it is a place of business where the elements dictate your day-to-day life.

Well done Lesley – tell it like it is.

Bryan Auchterlonie
Perthshire