Letter: Major mixed up about history

Sir: The West Lothian question is certainly a problem to be addressed by pro-devolutionists (letters, 14 February). However, it only becomes an insuperable stumbling-block to those determined to make it so.

There are several examples abroad of democracies giving a special degree of autonomy to regions whose representatives in the national parliament are not restricted as to their voting rights: Denmark (Greenland and The Faeroes); Finland (the Aland Islands); Spain (Catalonia and the Basque region); Italy (Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige); not to mention the United Kingdom (the old Stormont parliament). If the granting of autonomy to the Scots and Welsh is indeed felt to be unjust by the English, there are ways of addressing this - principally by allowing England as one or several regions to opt for the same autonomy as is granted to Scotland.

STEPHEN G LINSTEAD

Solihull, West Midlands