Ian Lakin appears to be saying that Scotland becoming independent will destroy our internal market with the rest of the UK (The true cost of independence, Letters, September 28).

Putting to one side the fact that Unionists don't appear to agree on how much that internal market consists of (Mr Lakin puts it a whopping 65 per cent) his opinion raises a few questions.

We are told by those who favour Brexit, that the UK will be able to comfortably replicate the literally dozens of trade deals negotiated with a very large number of countries by the EU on behalf of its 500 million citizens. The fact that the UK has put David Davis, around 100 civil servants and possibly the Downing Street cat in charge of the mammoth process should cause concern, yet Unionists seem quite sanguine about the process. However, in another example of how little faith they have in Scotland, they don't believe that we would be able to negotiate a mutually advantageous trade deal with our nearest neighbours – why? The premise Mr Lakin sets out also means that the current recipients of our goods and services, including many iconic Scottish brands, will no longer value them and will simply replace them with equally attractive options from elsewhere in the world rather than trade with a country just up the road.

Reading Ian Lakin's letter leaves you with the distinct resonance of Project Fear, but in microcosm. It worked in the independence referendum, so the UK Government rolled it out again in the EU referendum and we all know what happened there. Didn't someone once say something about fooling some of the people some of the time?

Douglas Turner

Edinburgh