From Dr Roman Wolczuk.

Sir, So Philip Stephens detects “a sense of restored national pride” in Scotland, does he? (“Salmond bids for the best of both worlds”, May 13). I have just returned from two days in Edinburgh and nowhere in western Europe have I encountered so many beggars and ne'er-do-wells as I did in the Scottish capital – I was embarrassed for the Scots in front of all of those foreigners.