WITH the third anniversary of Scottish independence upon us, I see the first signs of reconciliation emerging. The SNP has been given a bloody nose at the Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2016, the council elections and then the General Election this year for its ceaseless independence rhetoric since 2014.

The cost of oil has plummeted and shown that an independent Scotland would not be feasible without massive tax increases and/or a hefty dose of austerity. We are better off as part of the UK.

Scotland is in a state of “well-tempered discontent”. No one seems to be getting what they want and this is about the nearest it has felt like to be living in a stable nation in four years.

The SNP is free to follow its policies as it has been democratically mandated to do (even though I may not agree with some of its policies), but it does not represent the entirety of Scotland, as I hope it now realises.

All sides want the best for Scotland, so let us all move forward while respecting the will of the Scottish people to create a nation for those of us willing to give it a shot and make something of ourselves. Scotland is big enough for all of us.

David Bone,

1 Ailsa Street West,

Girvan, South Ayrshire.

WHAT a difference three years make. On the third anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum we see support for the SNP’s ideals at an all-time low. Even given a boost last year by the Brexit result, the independence movement managed to amass a relatively small crowd of around 15,000 for the 2016 anniversary march.

The 2017 anniversary crowd was, at best, a derisory 1,500. This shows the SNP’s core aim of independence as being out of touch with the mood of the nation. All we have to look forward to is higher taxes, health crises, more bad economic news and an education system in freefall, all courtesy of SNP policies.

There can be few SNP supporters who believe it would have been so much better if we had voted Yes on September 18, 2014. They have been voting with their feet.

Dr Gerald Edwards,

Broom Rd, Glasgow.

IS this the most divided government ever? We have the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, being heavily criticised by colleagues for speeches on his own turf: foreign policy. Perhaps that is because his speeches appear to have little to do with government policy.

He seems to think he is not bound by collective cabinet responsibility. He gets away with it because of the weakness of the Prime Minister: in office but not in power.

Then we have David Mundell, on his tour of former military dictatorships (“Mundell says not all powers will return to Scotland”, The Herald, September 18). He is to make a “keynote” speech from Paraguay of all places about EU powers on devolved matters not coming to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, reneging on what was promised during and after the referendum. So, of the four UK parliaments, only one will have real power and will dictate terms to the rest: devolution in reverse.

But Mr Mundell’s speech is being made outside Scotland. This seems to be the norm from Scottish Tory politicians, with Mr Mundell and Ruth Davidson mostly speechifying from London and apparently unable to command an audience in their own country; hardly the sign of a growing, indigenous political movement.

GR Weir,

17 Mill Street,

Ochiltree.