WILLIE Clarke asks, “Where is the proof that it is better to be ruled from Westminster than Edinburgh?”.

It is staring you in the face Willie! The United Kingdom economy survived the deepest recession in living memory because it is the sixth largest economy in the world.

The recession left us with considerable debt, the repayment of which is responsible for most if not all of our current ills. Would a smaller Scottish economy have survived this recession? I doubt it.

It is ironic that Willie portrays the Tories as the big bad wolf. When the Conservatives came to power in 2010 they had the unenviable task of clearing up a debt situation partly created by the recession and partly by a profligate Socialist Government which had de-regulated the banks.

The UK Government has disposed of a number of nationalised industries most of which were in need of expensive infrastructure updating.

Nationalisation was synonymous with inefficiency and it made sense to sell them off and let private companies pay for their modernisation.

Many of the so called “assets” only really became assets after privatisation. Willie lists a number of industries, including the steel industry, which at the time of its disposal was making an average loss of £1 million a day. Was it really irresponsible of the Government to get rid of it?

His constituents who work at Rosyth dockyard and have been involved in the construction of the Queen Elizabeth will be disappointed that their elected representative is opposed to the work they are carrying out. I don’t recall him expressing those views to the electorate when he was seeking re-election.

With regard to the Referendum, the Yes campaign are unable to answer the most basic of questions. They can’t even, at this late juncture, tell us what the currency would be or if we will be in the EU.

The defence policy is a shambles and pensions could not be guaranteed. This may be a dream for Willie and his supporters but it represents a nightmare for the rest of us.

JAMES MARTIN, Kelty.