Readers' letters: Liz Truss got one thing right in her Tory conference speech

The “mini-Budget” of the vacant Mary Elizabeth Truss and former Eton-boy Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng has totally decimated the “Better Together” claim that remaining in the Union effectively guarantees economic stability and prosperity for all in Scotland.

That said, even a stopped clock is correct twice a day and her statement during the Conservative and Unionist Party conference that “the status quo is not an option” seemingly headlines the exception that proves the rule in confirming the incompetence of Ms Truss.

What is now “clear” is that the necessary fundamental change of the United Kingdom will present less risk of Scotland suffering from extreme ideological policies and economic catastrophes if our future is in the hands of a proportionately-representative independent parliament at Holyrood than in the establishment-controlled clutches of the sham of a democratic union at Westminster.

Should there be hardship ahead in surmounting the economic challenges of self-determination then what is effectively guaranteed is that the rich will at the very least endure their fair share of any pain while the poor and less fortunate will be shielded by a sincerely compassionate government with a true social conscience.

Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss chat at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Relentless growth is bad for environment

Do I live in the same world as Liz Truss and her acolytes?.

Here we are in the middle of a climate crisis, when we might be finally realising that we live in a finite world of finite resources, and she wants growth?

We need a flourishing economy, of course, but one built on stability and sustainability, not relentless growth.

Growth, growth, growth? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Trevor Rigg, Edinburgh

Did Hamilton steal true Stone of Scone?

Ian Hamilton KC (as he became, very shortly before his death), formerly QC, who has now died at a great age epitomised a gentler kind of Scottish identity politics, now long gone.

Mr Hamilton was famous for his exploits in removing the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey, which was made into a film.

Audacious as a plan, it suffered from one major flaw which was that the stone was broken in the attempt.

However, something that has always puzzled me is why the stone which is now established as part and parcel of a monarch's claim to be King or Queen of Scots is accepted as such.

Rumour tells us that soldiers of Edward I demanded the stone when they reached Scone and that they were given a drain cover (which had two iron rings in it to enable it to be lifted) as an insult, while the real Stone of Destiny was concealed.

Many years ago, a church in Dull, I believe, though it may have been elsewhere, had a black basalt, carved Pictish stone in an iron cage which some claimed was the real Stone of Destiny. However, I have no idea where that stone went to.

As Scone is in historically Pictish territory, an intricate, carved Pictish stone would be the most likely kind of candidate for a coronation. Such was the glory of their unparalleled artistry in stone that a block of undecorated sandstone seems woefully inadequate for such a significant purpose.

Someone somewhere must know the truth, but who? It would be highly relevant to know with the forthcoming coronation of the King.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

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