I THINK it highly likely Brian Beacom will have a stadium full of like-minded souls sharing his reluctance to don a Scotland strip ("Why it’s so hard to pull a Scotland jersey over the head", The Herald, October 18). The country has such an abominable historical record of sins of commission and omission and daily adds new examples provided by the Government, public bodies, and by humble but misguided members of the public.

Not surprisingly the public are regularly admonished by press headlines to feel ashamed of such egregious behaviour; and how well the do the population respond. If there is one activity Scotland excels in it is self-flagellation. We love to indulge in collective guilt-sharing and to remind ourselves how uniquely fatally flawed and unworthy we are. A national strip that would satisfy Mr Beacom would be a hair shirt illuminated on the back with the word “shame”.

Although Scotland is rightly and undeniably bottom of the lowest league based on its list of undesirable qualities, other countries are surely in the same division. How on earth can Australians dare to wear their nation’s colours given their treatment of the indigenous population? The same question could be asked of the United States; and in more recent times, the actions of Germany and Japan should surely make their citizens queasy when pulling on their country’s jersey; and yet somehow by adopting a balanced view of history and current events citizens of these countries take a reasonable pride in wearing the national strip.

It is certainly healthy for a country to question its history and be critical of current public attitudes and the actions of its government, but that can happen only if the country is self-confident. Describing Scotland as “a self-centred little nation” sounds more like national self-harming. An attitude where citizens are encouraged to think badly of themselves and to think of themselves as living in a dark and irredeemable corner of the world leads only to a loss of self-worth and confidence.

Is that what Mr Beacom and the crowd in the stands in the stadium of shame really want?

Ian Hutcheson,

161 Beechwood Drive, Glasgow.

BRIAN Beacom finds it "hard to pull a Scotland jersey over his head". It is not clear whether this is because of the size of the jersey or the size of the head, but might I suggest a Scottish Rugby jersey as he is more likely to see a display of skilful talents and fighting spirit at Murrayfield than at Hampden. Let us hope that this situation is altered, at least on the football side, quite soon.

Mr Beacom then goes on to moan about the SNP for not supporting the NHS. I have over the last two years had need of help from the NHS several times and I have found the quality and standard of service to be first class. We have rid Scotland of Labour's corrupt PFI system for building Scotland's schools and other public buildings, and we have exposed Barnett as a second-class formula which does not match our service needs as well as we could with independence.

We are a "divided little nation" says Mr Beacom. Any country that is a democracy must have divisions. In fact that should happen in Parliament every day with three or more political parties and lobbying and consultations where Holyrood is superior to Westminster. As for "little" ? Does Mr Beacom not know that of the world's 10 richest nations per capita, nine are smaller than Scotland and the 10th, Sweden, is not much bigger?

Sadiq Khan connects racism with nationalism. Surely Mr Beacom is not accepting a statement by a Labour politician. Racism throughout history has been about religion and money, with imperialists exploiting minorities who wanted their own self-determination. Britain under Labour and Tory has made this country a reservation of inequality. The SNP is fighting the poverty which has been created. We need Mr Beacom's support, not his carping. He asks why does our fight against British poverty stop at Carlisle? Well, our fight against poverty won't stop at Carlisle, nor will it stop at the English Channel. Poverty exists throughout Europe. Our fight won't stop at Gibraltar, or the Bosphorus or at the Russian border.

In all of this we in Scotland want a new partnership with England and Wales and Ireland. A partnership based on independence and mutual respect, not a relationship based on centralisation and lack of understanding. England is not a racist country. Its anti-immigrant laws and stance is caused by faults with Labour and Tory leadership. In Scotland we have seen the damage that Tory leadership can do. but let us not think again that the answer is to replace Tory with Labour. We gave Labour its chance under Harold Wilson and under Tony Blair. We still have poverty and we still have Trident. Jeremy Corbyn would be just as bad, if not worse.

George Leslie,

North Glassock, Fenwick.

LIKE all but a few hundred people across Europe I haven't a clue what is really going on behind closed doors but I'm certain the EU negotiators, encouraged by the Irish Government and egged on by the SNP, have distorted the situation and ramifications regarding our border with a country we have been joined to peacefully for millions of years, only 30 of which had border issues which were actually caused by terrorism, not trade.

This is being weaponised as the main reason why the actual "leaving" treaty is so complex and an excuse not to finalise or at least agree the shape of our future relationship with the UK. As David Davis and others have said, lengthening the transition only weakens the UK's position.

Now is the time to cut an exit and ongoing deal from the EU, not kick it into the long grass and prolong the UK, Scottish and Northern Ireland constitutional and electoral misery.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

TURNING to The Letters Pages (October 19) and hoping for something other than discourses on Brexit, but finding no change, a wee thought came into my head. I recalled a quotation attributed to André Gide which says: “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no-one was listening, everything must be said again.” A shorter alternative version is “Everything has been said but not everyone has yet said it.” It figures.

Thelma Edwards,

Old Comrades Hall,

Hume, Kelso.