 You are right,  there is a real need for reasoned and rigorous debate  in the run-up to the referendum and that can only come about with a  decent opposition leadership  (We should all care about the future of the Scottish Tories, October 2).  You are also correct in your assertion that all four Tory candidates  lack sparkle ; however, the same could be said of the Labour leadership candidates. Hence it is difficult to see where the  reasoned and rigorous debate  will be coming from. There is a feeling of d?j? v? with all the opposition leadership candidates. They all trot out the same old tired arguments about defending the Union, saving Scotland from separation and declaring their pride in being British as well as Scottish. all good, wholesome, scaremongering stuff, but little in the way of a  reasoned and rigorous debate .  For the sake of Scottish democracy, I hope that new, high-quality candidates do emerge to lead Scotland s opposition. Unfortunately, I think I hope in vain.  Bill Cruickshank  Dinnet  aS SNP candidate in Edinburgh South in 1970, I was invited to meet with the South Edinburgh Young Conservatives. I came away from the meeting feeling that half of them favoured Scottish independence.  This suggests that if the Scottish Conservative &amp; Unionist Party is to be rebranded [Future of Scottish Tories, October 2] it might do well to leave out unionism from both its name and its stated aims. The new party would still contain unionists but could also be a home for those who envisage a right-wing party contributing to the politics of an independent Scotland. Perhaps the Labour Party in Scotland might also one day transmute into a party of the patriotic left.  David Stevenson,  Edinburgh  Your article (October 3) detailing opposition to the Health Lottery and Richard Desmond from the charitable sector in Scotland failed to acknowledge the significant support the new lottery scheme has received from charities across Great Britain keen to see how they can benefit from some of the ?50 million of new funds which will be available.  In particular, the comments you carried from SCVO are very different to the feedback we are receiving from the voluntary sector. More than 100 charities have contacted us directly and really welcome this injection of new money for good cause projects.  This is genuine and substantial new funding which can transform the lives of many people and which is very much needed by communities at this time. Parts of Scotland will be first to receive grants from next week.  as the independent charity in charge of funding strategy and distribution, it will be the role of the People s Health Trust to engage with communities over how the money will be best used.  This new and important money raised by the Health Lottery has the potential to do enormous good in communities in Scotland and across the rest of Great Britain at a time when organisations are struggling to access new funding.  additionally, we will shortly be launching a small grants programme which will provide further opportunities for organisations in Scotland to get involved.  John Hume  Chief executive  People s Health Trust  The Department of Energy &amp; Climate Change (DECC) reported that the amount of power generated from renewable sources fell last year.  Niall Stuart, of Scottish Renewables, retaliated with the excuse that it was an exceptionally dry and calm year. Scottish Renewables is the mouthpiece and lobbying body for the highly subsidised renewables industry.  I suspect Niall Stuart is getting mixed up between  consumed  and  generated when he talks about  30% consumed from renewables .  Even Denmark with 6000 turbines can only generate 20%, of which half is consumed  and the rest wasted as it cannot be stored.  Clark Cross  Linlithgow  Songs Of Praise should not be abolished but it should be changed (Barry Didcock, On a Hymn and a Prayer, October 2). It increasingly reflects establishment Christianity. It frequently promotes the royals, the armed forces and celebrities. Rarely, if ever, is a voice given to Christian republicans, Christian pacifists or working-class recipients o 