David Mumford (Letters, 8 February) displays all the inconsistencies of the Scottish National Party’s case. Like Peter Hennessy (The Lion and the Unicorn, 1 February), I too would feel a tragic sense of dismemberment if the Union were to be destroyed. Supporters of independence believe that the social union between the nations of Great Britain could still flourish, even if they were successful in destroying its political unity. But Mumford’s argument ignores the effects that sundering the Union would have on the ­continuing UK’s sentiments towards Scotland. The real risk is that, by destroying the ­political union and its fiscal solidarity, they would also imperil its social union, so that the continuing UK would become, at best, a cold observer of Scotland, or,