Sir, Robert Burns concluded one of his songs with the following words: “We’re bought and sold for English gold...sic a parcel of rogues in a nation.” Burns was spot-on. In the ill-omened year of 1707, the independent nation of Scotland and Parliament were incorporated without the leave of the Scots people into the stronger, wealthier English system. This was done through English bribes, by a self-serving, traitorous and venal cabal of Scots noblemen who, in signing the Articles of Union, had to flee Parliament House in Edinburgh by a back door, due to the rage of a huge crowd of Edinburgh folk, retreat down the Royal Mile to an obscure summer house (still extant) to sign the Articles! Now why resurrect all this ancient history? So that we may firmly ‘put to rest’ any notion that the birth of the UK state was in any way ‘democratic’. These notions yet exist as witnessed when one ignorant fool, several weeks ago in the Scotsman paper, wrote that our nation joined with England “through the blesings of democracy”. Which brings us back to our referendum of 2014. The foregoing has been a huge sea-change in the history of our ancient nation. The mountain dropped into the stagnant and complacent pool of the UK corruption has ramifications far beyond the actual splash. The rings will widen out indefinitely, for the referendum and its aftermath, by the very nature of the beast, is redolent of UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Te Scots, for the first time in our constitutional history were given the opportunity to decided their immediate future status. No matter if the vote was a narrow NO, the event itsels is of massive significance and its long-term aftermath will lead to the deserved passing of the UK unitary state with all its ethical nihilism, its shameless class privilege and its sheer political chicanery. The Scots, always a proud nation, are in the irreversible process of waking up; the precedent has been set.

Whether all this will lead toward a con-federal state in these islands or an independent Scotland is of no mattee; the UK already has the mark of the dodo on its nefarious heart - it is truly a corpse waiting to die.

And what about Alex Salmond whose claim to be a genuine political hero of our age is not without foundation? Hear a plain fact: without Salmond, his single-minded determination in the face of unremitting hostility, his decisive qualities of leadership, the glory of the Scots referendum would not have taken place. Let those who dislike Salmond at least award him the credit for his lengthy political journey. His dedicated vision toward an ideal for his nation contrasts profoundly with the indifference, weakness, greed, brutality and sheer cynicism shared by all Westminster leaders over the previous 30 years. Certainly his faults have been on display ie a fair leaven of opportunism...an almost engaging ego-centricism but set against the incompetence and negative garrulous posturing of his opponents in Scotland, I think we can forgive the flaws inherent in an otherwise sound nature.

Alex Salmond can step down with a fair perspective of his ongoing achievement which has contributed in the shattering of a UK consensus notable only for its all pervading class-based elitism and post-imperial pretensions. Salmond and the referendum have exposed the harsh dichotomy at the heart of that artificial construct - the UK unitary state.

“Sic a parcel of rogues in a nation!” I am, etc.

Stuart Akers Eliots Park Peebles