May I reply to the last two paragraphs in Joseph Muscat’s letter ‘A great Great Britain’ (July 12)?

He refers to the ‘opportunism’ of Scotland’s woman leader, Nicola Sturgeon. Possibly he may not be aware of the following facts. The SNP manifesto for the Scottish elections in May this year ruled out another independence referendum unless there was a ‘material change of circumstances’.

During the EU referendum, former prime ministers John Major, Tony Blair and David Cameron all warned that a Leave vote would probably result in Scotland leaving the UK.

The 55 per cent who voted in 2014 to stay in the UK is smaller than the 62 per cent who voted to stay in the EU, suggesting perhaps that Scots value the EU more than the Union with the rest of the UK. At the moment, all five parties in the Scottish Parliament are trying to find a way to remain both in the EU and the UK.

Only if this fails is another independence referendum likely because leaving the EU counts as a ‘material change’.

Finally, a minor point. Scotland is not ‘a third of a country’. The UK is a union of four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A smaller version of the EU almost.

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