From Leah Gunn Barrett
I sent this to the Scotsman, below, in response to the above. It will not be published.
Dear Editor,
Andrew H N Gray (letters, 27 Feb) doesn’t accept that the UK Government suppressed the McCrone Report for the obvious reason that if Scots knew their nation’s true wealth, they’d exit the Union. Dr Gavin McCrone, the report’s author, concluded that “for the first time since the Act of Union was passed, it can now be credibly argued that Scotland’s economic advantage lies in its repeal.”[1] Rather, Mr. Gray asserts that a nation “having lots of money is neither here nor there” and is shallow.The ‘shallow’ UK knew if it couldn’t exploit Scotland’s wealth, its economy, already on the skids, would sink. Because the SNP was supported by a third of Scottish voters in the 1974 General Election, the threat to the British State was real. That’s why it buried the report and then squandered our oil bounty.
Fortunately, Scotland’s enormous renewables potential gives us another chance to prosper outside the Union. No one can argue we have prospered inside it.
I won’t be accepting Mr. Gray’s advice that I listen to the British State broadcaster for my facts as it is clearly the source of his confusion.
Yours sincerely,
Leah Gunn Barrett
Talking-up Scotland 
Well said, Leah. Of course the corporate print and broadcast media don’t just “manage and manipulate” the news, but slew opinions to suit their narrative.
That is why the Gray letter gets published, while hers will get binned.
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What an ill informed idiot HN Gray is , is he English ? I see he states he is currently in Edinburgh but I suspect he is not Scottish because he compares California and Texas leaving the USA to Scotland leaving the U.K. it has clearly gone right over his little head that Texas and California are not countries it has also clearly gone right over his head that Scotland is a country, furthermore it is beyond his wit to know that many Scots fled to Texas and California after being chucked out of their homes and off their land then packed off on a boat to America by the English , California and Texas are the US states with the most Scots and I’m absolutely sure those Scots over there know damn well that Scotland is a country and not a county or a little part of England.
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The US States have more autonomy than Scotland. One of the oldest nations in the world. The US war of Independence. Influenced by the Declaration at Arbroath and with Scottish founding fathers. Equality, fraternity and liberty. 12% of the US population are descendants of Irish/Scots. Enough to swing a Presidential election. IR has a trading lobby in Congress. Biden is of Irish descent. Trump was of Scottish descent. The Scottish/Irish Clearances. The Scottish Enlightenment. Scotland the land of discovery and invention. The first country to have tertiary education. Scottish invention shaped the modern world. Radio and TV communication led on to the internet.
Scotland raises £69Billion+. It could raise £80Billion like Norway. Scotland loses £Billions to Brexit. Scotland cannot borrow to fund growth, Scotland has to pay loan repayments on monies not borrowed or spent in Scotland. HS2, Hickley Point etc. A waste of time and money with no business case. The Tory slush fund.
Scotland pays too much for the military with little back. Trident dumped in Scotland.. Redundant weaponry. Contracts abandoned even before they are finished. A complete misuse of public monies.
Westminster illegal wars, financial fraud and tax evasion cost Scotland £Billions. Brexit and the badly managed pandemic. Warning ignored by Westminster to concentrate on Brexit. Costing £Billions. The nearest, biggest market. CAP payments to keep food prices down. Shared Defence costs. UK contribution £4Billion. Advantages far out weigh the toxic affect of Brexit,
The UK Gov spend £918Billion 2019/20. The UK raised £813Billion.(Incl Covid borrowing/funding?).
Westminster spend £270Billion funding Covid over two years. £129Billion guaranteed by Bank of England (borrowing?). £370Billion over a lifetime Covid funding.
The Union costs Scotland dear. Scotland has never been treated equally as per the term of the Treaty of Union. Scotland revenues and resources have gone South to be mismanaged by Westminster’s bad policies and poor decisions. Not voted for in Scotland.
Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy and nearer the source pays more.
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Since you mentioned the US – **Some** states in the US even have a DRS – not all!
And the same is true of DRS in the EU. Germany’s DRS started in 2001 and France has been trying to introduce one since 2019.
So even a proper single market doesn’t see a problem with some having DRS and some not, but the UK “internal market” can ban Scotland’s DRS because it’s ‘different’.
There’s a map here showing DRS in Europe – https://www.unesda.eu/deposit-refund-systems/
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There is something wrong with the scheme being introduced in Scotland. It needs sorted. 20p return a bit high? 10p might be better. It needs changing. The Greens. It will be sorted out, eventually. The Tories will soon be gone. They will not be stopping anything, Every month that passes. The HoL (two years) and the Courts are stopping their failures. Council elections in the south in May.
More people in Scotland who support Independence need to get out and vote every election. A higher turnout.
A DRS would pay for itself. Less litter collection. More recycling.
The Hydro has a scheme £1 vessel return. A £ deposit. Returned at the end plastic vessel. Recycled. Washed at high temperature. Many are collected at the end. Enthusiastically.
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