13 JUNE 1998, Page 31

Scotland the brave

Sir: It is wholly unsurprising that there should be widespread hatred of the English in Scotland CA very Scottish death', 30 May).

After all, most of the government front bench is drawn from a population of six million. There is huge disparity in per capi- ta subsidies to Scotland as against, say, London, with a population of ten million. Scotland comes out far ahead. The broad- cast media in England are so dominated by Scots that it is impossible to switch on the wireless or television without hearing the peculiarly didactic accents of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Demotic fiction, films, plays all are now written and per- formed exclusively by Scots.

England, a nation of 50 million, has for some time, I fear, been effectively colonised by the fierce little country north of Hadrian's Wall. Of course the Scots hate us. It is all that guilt about the underdog. Peter Smalley

55A Old Church Street, London SW3