READING some of the letters in Saturday’s edition of The National had me angry, frustrated and in despair. Those who wrote in purporting to be supporters of independence but urging Nicola Sturgeon to either step down or take another referendum “off the table” for the foreseeable future need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they really want independence. Their reaction is exactly what Westminster, their sub-branches in Scotland and the yoon media want.
So some seats were lost in a parliament we don’t even want to govern us. May I point out that in other countries of the world the road to independence actually cost lives. How sad for you if you want to give up because a few seats were lost at Westminster.
The spin by Westminster wants you to believe the SNP lost this election. They didn’t — they won more seats than all the Unionist parties in Scotland combined. They want you to believe independence is “dead in the water”. It isn’t — it needs us all to get our chins up and our chests out and keep going in the sure knowledge that independence is coming and we can overcome anything they throw at us.
John Murphy
West Lothian
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Nothing has changed ... let’s get back to work
NOW the dust is settling over a disappointing result on Thursday it is time for a reality check.
This election was not about a second referendum — the Unionist parties tried to make it so, and this probably influenced the outcome, but nothing has changed. We are still faced with a Tory government intent on imposing austerity on the poorest in society and on dragging Scotland out of the EU to the detriment of all who live there.
While it may be politically prudent for the SNP to consider shifting the focus — the next days and weeks will show how that develops — this is precisely the time for the Yes movement to continue to step up its efforts.
It was the grassroots that had us coming so near to achieving our goal in September 2014 and it is the grassroots which will prove decisive in getting there next time. Irrespective of what political party you support, this is a time for us to stand up and be counted. We saw last week that we can get folk out, this is the way forward.
We need to keep working for our goal — then we will get there.
Colin Macpherson
Straubing, Germany
The Unionists have constantly peddled the lie that the independence movement is the same as the SNP. We know (and they know) that this is a falsehood. The word from the political chateratti is that the party will now be less aggressive on the indyref2 issue in view of their lost seats.
What a great opportunity to show everyone that the independence movement is much more than a political party. The campaign for independence should herewith not just continue but continue with a vengeance!
The independence movement now has the opportunity to show Scotland why a free Scotland is the only sensible way. Turn up the volume and start now.
Peter Barjonas
Latheronwheel
WHAT have you done? Just when my wife and I were planning to move to Scotland (back in my case), you’ve completely upset the apple cart.
Following the results of the General Election in 2015 and EU referendum in 2016, we were delighted that the Tories in Scotland had been virtually wiped out, providing a massive vote of confidence to the SNP government and its policies, and confirming that you wanted to remain members of the EU.
We were already well on the way towards selling our house in the Welsh borders and moving to south-west Scotland when Theresa May called this ridiculous snap election. What happened? You voted in twelve more Tory MPs, in defiance of the quiet revolution that has been slowly evolving in the rest of the UK. We now find ourselves in the absurd situation where your 13 Tory MPs are propping up a nasty, vindictive, right-wing dictator of a Prime Minister, not to mention her even more revolting friends in the DUP.
I’m afraid my only conclusion is that you’ve collectively decided to go back five decades to the time when tribalism and class division drove me out of Scotland in the first place. We are now having to revise our strategy completely in the light of this development, and are planning to move to west Wales instead, where our own progressive equivalent of the SNP, Plaid Cymru, has gained one more seat.
Sadly, my real disappointment at this result is that I am now unlikely to see Scotland flourish as an independent and European nation in my lifetime.
Stephen Wilson
Presteigne, Powys
IT is reported that as usual Theresa May went to church on Sunday. No doubt she wanted to give thanks for those poor misguided voters in the twelve Scottish constituences that changed allegiance and saved her bacon. I wonder if the New Testament reading was Matthew 13:12: “Unto them that hath shall be given, and from them that hath not shall be taken away even that they think they hath.” In other words, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor poorer (unless they live in Northern Ireland).
On the other hand I can imagine Ruth Davidson’s own version of Holy Willie’s Prayer. “God bless me and mine and the Scottish voters who voted the way I told them, and me and mine, and the Scottish Tory nodding donkeys, all of who have helped to propel me into high esteem in another land, and me.”
Robert Johnston
Airdrie
MAY I say how much I enjoyed Greg Moodie’s cartoon in the Monday edition. His use of ridicule and exaggeration was most effective in highlighting the absurdity of the tie-up between the Tories and their Orange Order devotees.
The serious message behind the cartoon, however, is to illustrate that there are no depths too deep for the Tories to plumb in the effort to hold on to power. We in Scotland are all too well aware of the underlying bigotry and sectarianism of this organisation. I am sure we are also mindful that this cancer has been exposed in the recent intake of Tory councillors — tolerated by one Ruth Davidson.
Nothing good is likely to result from this toxic alliance, only darkness and regression. It does however serve to reinforce the view that the Tory party is unprincipled and is prepared to “sup with the de’il”. The nasty party will need a very long spoon but I believe and hope that it will all go belly-up and very soon, and that we will all be back at the polls before Christmas.
J F Davidson
Bonnyrigg
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