<p>In response to Bob of Stornaways comments, clearly his "neck of the wood" does not suffer from the Scottish disease that maake Scotland the world's worst small country ( a recently reported fact).<br /> To accuse the Scots of gorging on deep fried mars bars is not rascist and the nations love affair with smoking, drinking and deep fried treats is supported by hard facts on the average life expectancy of a Scottish man compared to an English man.</p> <p>Its time this countrt woke up to its "sick man of Europe title" and did something about rather than trying to blame everyone else for its problems.</p>

Posted by: frank 21 Jun 2007

<p>Sirs,</p> <p>I am not accustomed to responding to articles I read in the press, particularly in the technical press, but I felt compelled to comment on the recent Sneak article entitled "Tartan Barmy", which was presumably penned by the resident little Englander on the IT Week staff.</p> <p>The statement that "The last time Sneak checked, Scotland was still part of the UK", is like saying that the UK should not appear on a location menu because it is still part of the EU. Scotland is, like England, both a country and a member of the UK. Even when, as seems likely, Scotland becomes an independent country, it will remain a member of the UK since the unions of Crown and Parliament are covered by two separate pieces of legislation. The assertion only serves to emphasise the ignorance of the Sneak writer in this area.</p> <p>That aside, the references to tartan hordes and deep-fried, battered Blackberries are interesting for at least two reasons. Firstly it suggests that IT Week's advertisers are not interested in selling their goods and services to Scots as this will certainly cause some offence, and secondly, I wonder what the reaction would be if a similar reference had been made to turbans and chipatis. Perhaps Jade Goody has found a place in IT Week</p> <p>Now don't get me wrong, I have no objection to Sneak, or anyone else, taking the mickey out of the Scots or Scotland. That does us no harm, and I'm sure we often deserve it. I was even able to appreciate the humour in this article. However, this sort of lazy stereotyping, bordering on racial abuse, is surely best kept for National Front newsletters and UKIP election broadcasts. Please try and do better in future.</p> <p>Bob Duncan</p> <p>Stornoway</p>

Posted by: Robert Duncan 12 Jun 2007

<p>"But before we get complaints from our Welsh and Northern Irish readers"</p> <p>Hang on ... and the English!</p>

Posted by: Andrew Liotta 08 Jun 2007