WE are informed by the Downing Street Press Office that the British Cabinet's half-day expedition to the north-east to hold a meeting in Aberdeen is simply part of a regular arrangement to meet around the country, and is further proof of how highly Scotland is regarded as an integral part of the United Kingdom ("Power station plan fuels debate as Cabinets visit the north-east", The Herald, February 25).

Given that the last such Cabinet meeting in Scotland took place in 1921, that doesn't sound very convincing - and by a strange coincidence that was at a period when there was a very strong movement in Scotland for Home Rule, actually supported by official UK government reports on the subject.

And what was the main achieve­ment of that historic Cabinet meeting in Inverness 93 years ago? It produced the agreed final draft of what was called The Irish Agreement, which laid the groundwork for the creation of an independent Eire very soon thereafter. Is today's generation of Eton and Oxbridge-educated ministers so ignorant of British history that they were not even aware of this and failed to recognise the irony? And what currency did the Irish Free State then use for more than 50 years until 1978, with the full agreement of the UK government? The pound sterling, of course, in a loose currency agreement and with no tariffs or restrictions on cross-border trade or movements. But today it seems that such a sensible arrangement for an independent Scotland could not even be contemplated by David Cameron, George Osborne and Danny Alexander.

Instead the UK Cabinet's purpose in coming to Aberdeen was to stress the rapid reduction of North Sea oil reserves and the volatility of oil prices, claiming that only an economy as strong as the UK's (surely meant as a joke?) could possibly cope with such fluctuations. And of course the vast oil resources in the Atlantic west of Orkney and Shetland, currently being explored by major oil companies, is once again completely ignored. Yet it is possible that these new oil fields could produce oil for at least another 100-150 years, the recovery of which will become increasingly economic as other sources are exhausted.

There is even a strong likelihood of new oil fields nearer to home in the Firth of Clyde. But it is under­stood that the UK Government has already decided not to allow any exploration activity in this much more accessible area, because such activities would interfere with the passage of nuclear-armed submarines to and from Faslane. There could hardly be a clearer indication of where the priorities of any UK government really lie.

Token gestures of one-day trips to Scotland by a Coalition Government that Scotland did not vote for will not impress or fool the Scottish people. Indeed such token gestures are more likely to add many more thousands to the Yes vote in September.

Iain AD Mann,

7 Kelvin Court,

Glasgow.

ONCE again the UK Government belittles Scotland's capabilities ("Salmond launches attack on oil and gas 'thieves'", The Herald, February 25). Yet again it raises the spectre of a Scotland too weak to support its oil industry. It ignores the stark difference between the Norwegian success and the failure of the UK in handling the proceeds from the natural resources. It ignores an even more dramatic example, that of Abu Dhabi, whose native population is less than that of Glasgow.

I worked there at various times from 1956 to 1988. Until it, along with the other members of the United Arab Emirates, relieved itself of the remaining British influence in 1971 it was a poor country. Oil was found there in 1958 but not until it became free of Britain was it able to use the oil money for the benefit of the people. It created the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund which is believed to be worth in the region of $800bn.

Anyone visiting Abu Dhabi, full as it is now with skyscrapers and magnificent roads, would scarcely be able to believe that in 1968 there were only short stretches of proper roads and that to reach the only hotel in the city required a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Compare that with the utter misuse of the UK's income from oil. There is no visible sign anywhere in the country that this money ever existed. How many hospitals and schools could have been built without the need for ruinous PFI contracts? What about roads and railways? In the context of recent events in England, how many effective flood defences could have been built? And the UK Government has the gall to claim that it knows best how to use the proceeds.

John Scott Roy,

42 Galloway Avenue,

Ayr.

I LISTENED with not a little incredulity to Alex Salmond on the radio. He was basing his main argument for independence on the fact that Scotland can match Norway's value in the creation and operation of an oil reserve fund to pay for the endless free services being promised to be available to all Scots from 2016.

This is not possible. The level of British North Sea oil production is just below 1m barrels per day. Even in the unlikely event that the SNP manage to work out a way that this is entirely Scottish, it would still be at a level around only 50% of Norway, which produces 2m barrels per day. In addition, the Norwegian oil fund is made up not only of taxes on this production, but also of a significant contribution by way of dividends from Statoil - the partly state-owned company that operates around 60% of Norwegian production. Does the Scottish Government have a similar holding in BP and other North Sea operators of which we are not aware?

Alex Salmond also made a great deal of the fact that, even with all of this, Norway is "much smaller" than Scotland. With a population of 5.2m against Scotland's 5.3m, this does not really appear to be the case, and that is without even addressing the fact that geographically it is five times the size, and has an economy with a GDP more than twice that of Scotland.

It would helpful to the undecided voters if he were able to substantiate his many promises, instead of endless bluster assuring the Scots that we can have everything, without telling us how any of it will actually be paid for. For example, the NHS in Scotland has for some time under the SNP had an unsustainable "no redundancy" policy - how many desperately required and inevitable cuts in areas such as this are being held back now after the referendum?

Mr Salmond is endlessly demanding a "debate" with David Cameron. He is quite clearly unable to debate - all of his rhetoric consists of rubbishing everything said by his opponents and conjuring up erron­eous facts to support his own case.

Steph Glasgow,

71 Hughenden Gardens,

Glasgow.

IN his own inimitable way Harry Reid ("A nation apart from the people on charge", The Herald, February 25) levels criticism at David Cameron and his cohorts for their Scottish visit in the masquerade of a Cabinet meeting.

He highlights the already-established peripatetic journeying of Alex Salmond and his disciples as being more in tune and therefore being more concerned about the same electorate.

Both views could be construed as right or wrong dependent on one's political choice. In similar colloquial terms, damned if you do or damned if you don't.

I would suggest ordinary citizens are not impressed by the peregrinations of either Cabinet entourage.

For sure, indigenous Scots can quickly spot a self-promotional pitch, especially a party political one, whether it is for or against in the current big issue debate.

Allan C Steele,

22 Forres Avenue,

Giffnock.

ALAN Gray need not fear the impact independence will have on future Winter Olympic Games (Letters, February 25).

In Sochi, independent Norway finished third in the medals league table, and independent Finland, another country comparable in size to Scotland, also finished ahead of Great Britain.

Mr Gray praises Team GB's training facilities which produced the medals, "curlers apart", but the curlers were responsible for half of Team GB's medal haul.

There is no reason why an independent Scotland can't put the sporting infrastructure in place to enable our athletes to compete with the best in the world in all sports, and carry the Saltire on to the Olympic field alongside the flags of other independent world nations.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.