IRVINE WELSH, the novelist, a supporter of the Yes campaign for Scottish independence is quoted as saying: “I always think the Union is nature’s way of stopping the Scots ruling the world. We’d be unstoppable if we were independent.”

I sincerely hope this is hyperbole.

Certainly, there would be be no lack of aggression.

When I was in the Armed Forces you could virtually guarantee that whenever a fight disfigured any social function it had often been started by a Scotsman, invariably small in stature.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland.