Your letters to the Advertiser: June 30, 2016

To add your opinions to the mix, email editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk - please tell us your name and address and keep your thoughts as brief as possible (300 words max).

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I am very sad that the UK is more divided than ever following the decision to leave the EU.

Scotland has been a divided nation since the independence referendum, there has been no healing at all.

One would have expected that it was time for the whole UK to pause for thought and look ahead at how each of us can contribute to bring us all together in a ‘United’ Kingdom in a new world which I suspect will actually change very little as far as most of us go about our daily lives.

This healing should have been led by our elected representatives.

Sadly no, we find not only here in Scotland but also possibly in Northern Ireland there are very definitive moves by the political leaders to use the vacuum that is in place to look at breaking up the UK.

In Scotland the SNP have seen their opportunity to once again push for a second referendum on independence which will make the disunity here even worse, will cause yet another period of uncertainty for business.

The ordinary person who really wants the governments of Scotland and Westminster to get on and govern.

If Scotland was to become independent then as a new member of the EU it would have to adopt the Euro, we would have the Schengen agreement, immigration would increase given the SNP’s proposed generous social security system, it is likely Scotland would receive a less generous share of EU monies as it would be re directed to other places, we would not be in control of our budget it would be agreed by the European Central Bank, the list goes on.

It is time we the silent majority say enough, no more referendums, we are tired of the constant fighting and petty point scoring, we are tired of a divided society, we want good government.

The First Minister should note the EU referendum was not one which gives her any mandate at all to consider a second referendum, so govern.

Use the new powers that are and will be available, make our education system better, tear up the bureaucracy that those in school and the NHS are plagued with. Allow them to teach and heal, that is just a start to help us to heal.

Peter Ramsay, Helensburgh

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The result of the EU Referendum has serious consequences for this area.

With the economic and constitutional uncertainty the projects to bring the Royal Navy Submarine fleet to the Clyde and the replacement of Trident will be under severe threat because of the cost.

For the foreseeable future the UK’s public funds and its ability to borrow on the international markets will be challenging.

Our constitutional future is so uncertain that Big Ticket commitments will be off the agenda for some time regardless of any reassuring words from UK government ministers who have lost any credible control.

Two important local industries, agriculture and tourism, will also be affected.

Since most farms in this area survive on the EU subsidies what confidence can we have that the UK will be able to sustain these subsidies and/or put in place an alternative system at least as generous as the one currently available?

This area benefits economically from a major influx of continental and other tourists each year.

We do not know if they will keep coming and in what numbers in expectation of and after Brexit.

Should the tourist organisations not be posing the question to these visitors now while they are on our soil?

Graeme McCormick,

Convener, SNP Dumbarton Constituency Association

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While there has been much focus on the economic downside of a Brexit for the UK, little attention seems to have been paid to the massive economic benefits an independent Scotland within the EU could have.

One of the key reasons companies locate to the UK is due to our membership of the EU, delivering a gateway to the EU and its single market of more than half a billion consumers, as well as providing ease of travel.

Scotland would be in an ideal position to offer an ideal English speaking location for international and domestic companies, including investment houses, banks, fund managers and other financial institutions who require to have a place within the EU for regulatory reasons.

Scotland would offer all the attractions of a settled and secure life, bearing in mind that the Republic of Ireland will be the only alternative English speaking nation in the EU.

It will also, through the Court of Session, be able to offer parties in Scotland the opportunity to take their cases to the European Court of Justice for important rulings on EU law and its implications for businesses; and Scotland could see the relocation of many highly skilled EU practitioners who wish to practice here.

Pursuing EU law issues through London’s High Court is unlikely to be an option. Indeed, last week more than 100 London based EU lawyers registered as solicitors in the Republic of Ireland to safeguard their right to practice EU law.

Every cloud has a silver lining and for Scotland that is taking the bold step to take advantage of this Brexit economic dividend through independence.

Alex Orr, Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh

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I liked your piece about The Face (also called that Ugly Gargoule or The Helensburgh Hag).

I think it was Councillor Morton who said at the last meeting: “I don’t know much about art so I’d better vote to keep it”.

Mrs Churchill didn’t claim to know much about art but didn’t like Graham Sutherland’s portrait of her husband and had it destroyed.

Councillor George Freeman tells me that although losing this battle he will continue to wage war so those cowardly councillors who think that the critics have all been silenced will have to think again.

Ian Plenderleath,

via email

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I will never believe a word that the SNP say ever again after reading about the plans to close the Vale maternity unit.

The SNP told us during the election that politicians like Jackie Baillie who raised concerns about our local hospital were scaremongering and many people trusted the SNP Health Minister when she said that she would protect the Vale.

They lied to us. It only took a matter of weeks for that promise to be completely torn apart.

The SNP has the power, the money and the seats in Parliament.

They could protect all current services and invest in the Vale if that’s what they really wanted.

Why would anyone vote SNP when, on this most important of issues for our local community, they tell lies?

Christopher Fagan, Helensburgh

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Six councillors who supposedly represent the interests of the people of Helensburgh have voted to give £5 million to other parts of Argyll and Bute rather than retain it for the benefit of their constituents.

This money was to be in addition to – not instead of – funds already earmarked.

I hope this will be a front page article by yourselves, naming and shaming these individuals who are not doing the job they were elected to.

If they don’t wish to represent and prioritise our town the solution is simple.

Stand down and let others with Helensburgh’s residents’ wishes in mind take their place.

If they can’t bring themselves to do this we can do it for them at the next local elections.

C. Buchan, via email

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The European Commission provides a very handy multilingual app for mobile devices, which explains the workings of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) including how to access emergency health services and use the card in each country in which it is valid.

Comprehensive information is given about services in England, but visitors to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are instead directed (perhaps when they are offline and most need the information) to internet websites.

While this may lead to to welcome NHS savings outwith England as frustrated foreigners forsake the NHS and go private, does this show the European Commission’s attitude to the Celtic Fringe or is it a failure of the UK government to provide the correct information?

John Hein, via email