Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Crime author backs Scottish independence

Val McDermid
Val McDermid

Crime writer Val McDermid has given her support to the Yes campaign for independence.

Ms McDermid, the creator of psychologist Dr Tony Hill and author of Wire in the Blood, has also criticised the negativity of the Better Together campaign.

The popular writer, who is from Kircaldy, said she was announcing her stance “with a degree of trepidation”.

She said: “The only basis I could find for making a choice is to look at the track record of what the Scottish Parliament has done differently from Westminster since we’ve had some power restored to us.

“And, overwhelmingly, I prefer what we’ve done north of the border – free prescriptions, no student tuition fees, social care for elderly people.

“So, with a degree of trepidation, I’m going to nail my colours to the mast of aspiration and vote Yes.”

Earlier this month, the University of Dundee named its new morgue after Ms McDermid.

Former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway has also spoken out in favour of independence.

Bishop Holloway, the former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and a BBC broadcaster, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He said: “Rather than making a positive case for the union, the Better Together campaign has wasted its energy on attacking the idea that Scotland could go it alone, a tactic guaranteed to anger those of us for whom the question was never whether we could but whether we should.

“And there has been little recognition on the unionist side that the British political system is broken.

“The major factor in my own mistrust is outrage at the wars we have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan for no valid moral purpose.

“I am ready to forgive politicians for getting economics wrong, but never for taking us into costly and unnecessary wars.”

Chief executive of Yes Scotland Blair Jenkins welcomed the support of the two high-profile figures.

He said: “The Yes campaign is thriving on the ground and in the polls, and it is fantastic that such highly respected people as Val McDermid and Richard Holloway are joining the growing number of people declaring for Yes.”