Letter: Devolution for the Islands

Devolution for the Islands

Sir: Neil Lyndon did not progress his questions to Alex Salmond to the one which really causes him discomfort. That is the Orkney and Shetland question.

The same logic which Mr Salmond uses for justifying the right of the people of Scotland to chose devolution from the UK, must justify the right for Orcadians and Shetland Islanders to choose whether to be part of Scotland. Since many of them regard themselves as being more Scandinavian than Scots, they might well choose not to go with Scotland. If this were to happen, then Mr Salmond's analysis of Scotland's economy would fall apart since most of the oil belongs to the Islands, not to Scotland.

In quoting the MORI poll of 1995, Mr Lyndon refers to "representative samples of people in England" but then goes on to refer to "English respondents". These are very different. Since 80 per cent of the Scots in the British Isles live in England, the former would contain a number of Scottish respondents. Did MORI actually provide figures for English opinion excluding immigrants?

BASIL DEWING

Great Malvern, Worcestershire