HOW painful to watch “senior” SNP politician Neil Gray on STV at the party conference try to justify nine years of nationalist government. The successes: “The baby box scheme and the child payment scheme.” No mention of the disgraceful failures of Nicola Sturgeon which earned her adulation at her appearance. Have they forgotten, or refuse to admit, she trashed virtually every Scottish institution? How heartening that some principled SNP politicians had the sense to stay away. Douglas Cowe.
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Since the SNP has been in power our nation has got, poorer, dirty and less secure. They have damaged our economy, bogged businesses down, let our urban centres go to ruin and have presided over a rampant drug culture. We are all poorer and less secure than we were 15 years ago. You don’t need to take our word for it; just look outside.
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Tom Arthur, the SNP public finance minister, said back in August this year that their party had listened to calls for the council tax system to be made fairer. SNP ministers insisted it would make the controversial council tax system fairer by asking the wealthiest Scots to pay more – in some cases up to 22.5 per cent more. That was some U-turn at the SNP conference, with Hum za Yousaf now freezing council tax for the next year, claiming that’s the SNP delivering for people when they need it the most. How are councils going to provide good school meals, maintain library services, keep our bins emptied and look after the roads when there is no increase in council tax? You could almost think that the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election had led to this volte-face. The SNP have learnt nothing from the many years of council tax freeze where our local authorities were unable to maintain the level of services that local residents deserve. Jane Lax, Aberlour.
BANG on cue, the SNP’s righteous rose to the occasion as Humza Yousaf started his conference speech with what resembled an attempt to politicise the horrors in the Middle East. The First Minister rightly condemned the actions of both sides in the conflict but then, in an apparently deliberate attempt to ‘out-shine’ the UK, he offered to accept refugees and provide treatment for the injured in Scottish hospitals, calling for others to follow his lead. Compassionate, yes; practical, certainly not. With 800,000 Scots on waiting lists and 1,400 asylum seekers about to be declared homeless in Glasgow, how can this be achieved? Mr Yousaf comes across as being more interested in feeding his ego, enhancing his international image and tugging at the heartstrings of the zealots than analysing the practicality of his musings. Unfortunately, all the hallmarks are present for this being nothing more than a totally disingenuous attempt to gain favour with supporters while belittling Westminster. Why must politicians see political point-scoring as a necessary part of everything they do or say? Graham Wyllie, Greengairs, Lanarkshire.
Sir, – I find it interesting that when polling companies ask whether higher support should be required to make Scotland an independent country (referendum support “should be 60%”, Courier October 16), that they get very different results. One quotes “almost half of Scots” agreeing with this, another suggests a dear majority of people against, and a third shows 52% of SNP voters at the last Holyrood election being in favour of such a measure. The variance is obviously because the answer you get to a polling question depends on how it is asked, and the precise words used. We know that politicians can be very sleekit in the way they present a question and that words are important. If the public are confused about this, as the polls imply, then it is important to answer the question regarding why this might be a good idea. Any club you might belong to, be it a sports club or the smallest village hall committee, knows that a super-majority should be required to bring about any changes to their constitution, typically a two-thirds majority. People instinctively know that this prevents the normal workings of the group from being disrupted by a potentially divisive argument, and that significant changes can only take place if there is a clear willingness to do this. People can then make the change and move on. The SNP require a two-thirds majority to change their own constitution. Humza Yousaf as he clearly states, thinks there has to be a “settled will”. Interestingly, of the polls mentioned, a majority of SNP voters agree with the notion, from which we can probably safely deduce that even they are now becoming scunnered by the whole thing. Any vote on a major constitutional issue needs to be decisive. The referendum on the Scottish Parliament was decisive, as was the one of the Good Friday Agreement, with the result being that devolution in both countries is accepted. With the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum in 2011, a very clear majority rejected it, and it hasn’t reared its head again. Contrast the chaos that resulted after the very close Brexit vote in comparison. We all know why a higher threshold is important, and that such a level of support simply does not exist in Scotland. Hence, the proposed referendum this week appears not to be taking place, and people are starting to work out that there is no point in voting SNP any more. Victor Clements, Aberfeldy.
THE appearance of Nicola Sturgeon at the SNP conference was a timely reminder of the damage her evasive and divisive “leadership” has canned Scotland. It also prompts a few questions, such as … where’s the £600,000 (belonging to SNP members)? And when will the two £400million, and counting, ferries be completed? There are so many questions to be answered regarding her time in office and the gross abuse of taxpayers, and SNP supporters, money. Eddie McNeill, Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
SNP conference hears that ‘Scotland needs more physios’ – CSP