Scotland Matters Letters

It has often been said that once Nicola Sturgeon decided to leave Scottish politics, she would be snapped up as a talent by some high-powered international organisation, perhaps the UN. After the chaos that has followed her resignation and the meltdown in her party, coupled with revelations (as if we didn’t already know) about her mismanagement of her devolved responsibilities, does anyone still seriously believe that is likely? Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

How much dirty SNP linen can Scotland take in? We’re into our fifth week of them brawling on the streets, so rather than canning their leadership election and subjecting us to another (admittedly entertaining) blizzard of acrimony, why not do as the Conservatives did last year and let members change their vote? They all -candidates, party hierarchy, members, MPs MSPs and councillors – made their bed or pretended not to know, so they must lie in it. And if they must have a rerun, others should stand – Joanna Cherry, for example. Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

The collapse of the SNP hierarchy (report, March 20) was only ever a matter of time. The party did succeed in fooling most of its followers most of the time, with its chest-beating, anti-Westminster rhetoric. However, the problems in Scotland’s NHS, police, economy, infrastructure and education system have now been laid bare. No longer can the SNP blame the Tory bogeyman: this mess is of its own making. Allan Thompson, Glasgow.

I attended an SNP leadership debate in Inverness last week which was very well organised and hosted by the local newspaper. The audience was derived from their digital subscribers. There was no way of determining their politics and no one asked us, either during the event or beforehand. It had an interesting effect on the candidates, who had to assume that this was a genuine cross-section of opinion from Inverness and the northern Highlands. There was virtually no mention whatsoever of constitutional politics. The discussion was to do with the A9 and the A96, NHS provision, support for rural businesses, infrastructure development, the operation of the Cairngorms National Park and reform of local government. At one point, there was so much talk about devolution of local government that it felt like the candidates were reading from a Lib Dem manifesto. Kate Forbes was presenting her Tory-lite side to local business and there is no doubt that had politics in Scotland been different at the moment, Humza Yousaf would have been wearing a red rosette. Much of the crowd was sceptical.
Why would the SNP invest in the area now when they hadn’t in the last 15 years? Why would a party which has centralised so much power now suddenly see the value of delegating responsibility? You would think they were telling people what they thought they wanted to hear. Here is the thing. This SNP government is obviously not going to last for long. The real choice is between one of these three – Messrs Ross, Sarwar and Cole-Hamilton. If the debate is between left, right and liberal, then you might as well look at the full-fat versions. The issue of course is that they are all virtually invisible at the moment. All opposition politicians in the Scottish Parliament need to up their game and start telling the public what they are about and what it is they have to offer. The public want to debate real-life issues. They are sceptical about the SNP but it is not good enough for others to simply be anti-SNP. What do they believe and what will they do? These are the real questions. The next election is not as far away as people think and the Holyrood opposition needs to waken up to this. Victor Clements, Aberfeldy.

The SNP is in total meltdown and it is clear whoever wins the leadership contest will not command loyalty from a large percentage of their own party. It really is time to reset Scottish politics for the benefit of all of the people. Independence ought to be the first `casualty’. Even the prospect of setting up a Scottish National Bank is ludicrous given market turmoil right now and the failure of big American and Swiss banks. There should be a new Holyrood election with the word ‘independence’ left out and the words ‘improved public services’ substituted. Is the SNP up to that? Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

In a TV interview, Mike Russell of the SNP – who is temporarily chief executive until a new leader is elected -made a few statements which typify his party’s outlook towards outsiders. He made reference to the interview to follow his as being with an “unelected chancellor”. Please tell us, Michael, who elected Nicola Sturgeon into her recently vacated position? He mentioned his ignorance of the fact that party membership had recently plummeted. Really, the SNP president doesn’t know how many members his party has? He twice insisted Scotland “needs independence”. Why? The SNP couldn’t possibly make the country any worse than it already is with or without independence. Anyway, he is another one of the many whose unwritten policy is: “Don’t bother us with silly questions, just vote YES and everything will be OK.” It goes without saying the SNP is imploding and I believe there are many more twists to this tale before the dust settles. Meanwhile, the best programme on STV at the moment is the six o’clock news. Ian Balloch, Grangemouth.

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