Scotland Matters Letters

It is reasonable to surmise that Dr Docherty (Letters, 4 April) considers Scotland to be an English colony. What a load of tosh! Ever since the Union of the Crowns, many people south of the border have felt the opposite to be the case, with Scottish doctors, scientists, philosophers and politicians coming down unhindered to rule the roost. Conversely, the religious freedoms conferred on Scottish universities by the Treaty of Union helped Joseph Lister to become a Professor at Glasgow where his antiseptic principle revolutionised surgery. He had to return to England to convert the sceptics. I declare an interest as someone who was hired as a medical microbiologist by someone who had been mentored by Alexander Fleming in London. Despite retaining his broad Ayrshire accent, Fleming was never regarded as a colonial helot, but was buried in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, joining Nelson, Wellington and Florence Nightingale. Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen.

GLASGOW SNP council has backed a proposal for a 30mph speed limit on the section of the M8 going through the city Greens councillor Christy Mearns has also proposed that the same section of road be added to Glasgow’s low emission zone. If this crackpot scheme goes ahead, any owners of cars which do not meet the requirement and who live in the east will need to go to Edinburgh Airport and fly to Glasgow to catch a flight booked from there. The tail is wagging the dog right enough. Ian Balloch, Grangemouth.

So the leadership election is over and the SNP have a new leader and a new first minister. Yousaf the “continuity” candidate – so more of the “same old, same old” or so we thought. What we have is a Cabinet of cronies and failures, some of the worst performing ministers we have had, ministers who have presided over the failures of education, justice, drug deaths, transport, to name a few, and the icing on the cake is the person who has presided over the demise of the NHS got the top job. His deputy is a joke. Shona Robison is a close friend of Nicola Sturgeon so you don’t have to think very hard on how she got the job, and it will also keep Nicola up to date. He has surrounded himself with a Cabinet of incompetents – so much for the “big tent” of talent he had to draw from. He quickly rewarded supporters and just as swiftly got rid of the people that would have shown he wanted to heal divisions. He knew that Kate Forbes would not accept the rural affairs job, she is one of the brightest in the SNP who also has integrity and honesty but is not fit for the front bench it seems. Give the job to someone with no financial brain, let’s see how that works out. The excuse about not wanting to give Kate a front bench job so as not to pressure her due to her new baby is an insult to us all, Humza just didn’t want her – after all she is more popular than him. I think she is a loss to the front bench but I also think she is more dangerous to him from the back benches and she might be better there, for when this band fails – and fail they will – at least she won’t be part of it. He also offered Kate the current rural affairs minister’s post – I wonder how she feels being second best? If Forbes had taken the job where would she have gone? He has also got rid of members of the old guard, namely Keith Brown and other members. I believe that some of the old guard turned down positions, perhaps they can see the way the wind is blowing. I was shocked that he is still ranting and throwing red meat to the independence supporters as a matter of priority, asking the prime minister for a section 30. He knew the answer but had to ask instead of sorting out all the other problems and showing that the SNP can govern on their own by getting rid of the Greens. The tail wagging the dog will only get worse as the Greens exercise their power, which was shown with their statements that they would not work with Forbes or Regan. It was heartening to find out that Nicola Sturgeon has been taking driving lessons. Fortunately, she left the clown car at Holyrood but they might have to trade up to a clown bus as the car only has four seats. As someone once said, “may you live in interesting times”. I think we may be about to find out. J Burns, Kinross.

THE SNP has pulled off a stupendous confidence trick over the past decade. On the one hand it has persuaded large numbers of Scots to leave rational thought behind in order to achieve the great benefits which are supposed to flow from independence by leaving the world’s sixth largest economy. On the other hand it has persuaded many that somehow Scotland is a “colony” of England and it is necessary to break these imaginary chains to gain “freedom”. This latter strategy has been particularly effective among young people, who sadly do not realise how fortunate they are to live in the United Kingdom. But you cannot fool people for ever and the battery of the independence vehicle is depleting rapidly. William Loneskie, Lauder.

Share this entry