Spectator letters: The best ‘never’ ever is in the Declaration of Arbroath Plus: BST for England, the problem for social workers, and C.P. Snow was not cold

Never say never

Sir: Dot Wordsworth (Mind your language, 20 September) quotes various telling usages of ‘never’ for rhetorical or theatrical effect. But she missed one of the earliest and spine-chilling best: the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320. Quite apart from including the first-known written statement of the old Scottish principle that kingship is essentially a contractual appointment, and can be terminated if the people feel let down, the translation ends with: ‘For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never shall we on any conditions be brought under English rule.’

Even Scots like me, who would have voted ‘No’ last week if we had been able, thrill to the resonance of these words. So what do they do for a ‘yes’ voter, even after 700 years? How’s that for an example of the power of words?
Thomas Evans
Wheathampstead, Herts

Sanity about Scotland

Sir: Many thanks to Matthew Parris for the sanest piece on the Scottish referendum that I have seen (20 September). I did not read the various pleas for the Union that you published the previous week; the various outpourings of alarmed politicians were nauseating enough. The whole episode has been dispiriting and one has a sinking feeling that the issue of devolution will continue to loom large, and at the expense of much more important matters.
John Fisher
Shelford, Notts

Eternal summer

Sir: Now that there is talk of giving English MPs exclusive say on English matters, may I suggest that the first bill is one that fixes British Summer Time as standard throughout the year? Perhaps Spectator readers can suggest other measures that would benefit England, but up to now have been blocked by MPs from another nation?
Laurence Kelvin
London W9

Shake-up needed

Sir: Your leading article (20 September) certainly managed to strike the right chord with me.