Letters to The National, September 28: Trident vote will test Corbyn’s credibility

This is no surprise as Mr Corbyn has long opposed Trident renewal himself. The real test will be at his party conference in Brighton, when Labour’s deep divisions over the matter will be laid bare. The pressure will clearly be on the party to clarify its position and whether or not it supports its leader. 

Labour have an opportunity to join a progressive alliance against the immoral, obscene and completely redundant weapons of mass destruction that Westminster continues to dump on the Clyde.

 However, the indications are not hopeful, as Maria Eagle, the Shadow Defence Secretary, and Hillary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, are opposed to Mr Corbyn’s view – as is the Leader of Scottish Labour Kezia Dugdale.

If Mr Corbyn has any hope of being seen as a credible leader he must get party support in his commitment to back the SNP’s plan to scrap the replacement of Trident. 

Alex Orr
Edinburgh 

“HE knows that I am the leader of the Scottish Labour Party”. 

(I will stop Trident with the SNP, says Corbyn, The National, September 26).

Dugdale says this and other words to this effect over and over again, on the TV and in the press.

Well, I have news for her. There is no such political party registered as Scottish Labour. It does not exist.

The party that she is a member of is actually called the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn is its leader. Most people know this.

He is the leader and Dugdale as a branch manager must do what he orders her to do in Scotland. She is subordinate to him and should follow his orders to the letter.

It is to be noticed that Corbyn always says “the Labour Party in Scotland”, never Scottish Labour.

So Keiza! Accept that you are just a branch manager of the Labour Party and you may get on a lot better with everyone.

If you keep saying that you’re the leader of Labour in Scotland,  Jeremy might be telling you to get on your bike.

Jim Brown
Glenrothes

KEZIA Dugdale, the latest leader of Scottish Labour, has laid the blame for its current woes on the previous four leaders. In other words, “Four big boys did it and ran away!”

James Mills
Johnstone 

CONSIDERING that the front bench of the Conservative Party are deemed to be well educated, I’m wondering how they cannot figure out the senselessness of furthering the arms trade and of even contemplating invasive action in Syria. Mr Cameron has already done irreparable damage by sending the infamous drone to assassinate the two Brits, almost inviting a similar attack upon ourselves in the future.

Apart from the moral aspects of war, ought not the government have learnt anything from the Iraq/Libya fiascos? I think the root cause of these follies is dishonesty. The truth is that Britain is – and has always been – less interested in the plight 

of innocent “casualties” of conflict than cold-hearted strategies for its own benefits; more intent upon regime changes than genuine desire to broker settlements by peaceful diplomacy. 

We are witnessing an increasingly weak Prime Minister in charge of Westminster, yet having to look over his shoulder at the stronger George Osborne. It gives me a feeling of dread that the education system in English public schools seems to continue to be designed to churn out people (mostly young inexperienced males) for the seats of power, ergo The Establishment. 

How can we, the common weal in Scotland, turn the tide except by turning our backs on this blight and by becoming self-ruling with a clean sheet, opposing Trident and its sickening nuclear “siblings”, and by focussing upon building the society we wish for.

Janet Cunningham
Stirling

THE comments of Stuart Martin (Letters, September 25) about an “influx” of “alien culture” ignore the fact that we, as part of the UK, helped to cause the crisis in the first place.  

Does he believe that a noble manifestation of UK “culture” is to turn away from people in terrible trouble, and to deny our moral responsibility for contributing to the causes of that trouble?

Derek Ball
Bearsden

FOR Volkswagen to be caught in the act of blatant cheating not just consumers but also environmental laws and, hence, us all, is on the extreme end of the scandal spectrum. Each of us has been damaged. 

I wonder if the individuals involved in the scandal will face the force of the law though experience suggests not, corporate interests having proved to be above common justice so often.However, if the offending software can reduce car emissions to acceptable levels then why not use the offending technology for good? 

I mean, recall the offending 11 million-plus cars and “jam” this acceptable software system to “ON” permanently. Emissions will then be legally acceptable. The performance loss can then be debated by the legal eagles so that each of the relevant car owners can be suitably compensated.

Forgive me if my technical and legal naivety overwhelms.

Peter
Caithness

REGARDING Mhairi Black’s column in The National, it was a privilege to read yet another young lass with her heid screwed on (Mhairi Black: The election of Corbyn changes nothing, The National, September 26). If I were a betting man I would put a few quid on her being in line for a top job in our (sure to come) new independent Scotland parliament. 

Walter Hamilton
Elie 

IN my long association with the Scottish National Party I have met and worked with some outstanding young people; mature, articulate and confident beyond their years.

Mhairi Black is a supreme example of this kind of, dare one say precocious, talent, as her achievements show, and her article in Saturday’s National should be a clarion call to all our young people. 

Let them but confront the realities of Scotland’s political situation with her clarity and courage and we need have no fear for the future. It will be in good hands.

Peter Craigie
Edinburgh 

IN an otherwise fine first column for The National, I felt Mhairi Black’s criticism of Jeremy Corbyn “placing an unelected lord in his cabinet” was problematic given that she is an MP in a party which supports an unelected monarchy.

Nevertheless, as one who cannot differentiate morally or ideologically between an unelected lord or an unelected royal, I will reserve my judgment until I know Mhairi’s personal opinion on unelected monarchy. If she doesn’t support it then I will fully endorse her entitlement to criticise Jeremy Corbyn. If however, she supports it, how can she, in all honesty, call into question his “commitment to electoral accountability” if she too is not committed to it? 

Like many other Yes supporters, my position is clear. I do not support the SNP hierarchy’s 

support of unelected monarchy 

and was more than disappointed when it went back on its position of having a referendum on the monarchy in an independent Scotland. Perhaps Mhairi could clarify her personal position in her next article.

Jack Fraser
Musselburgh

I READ the article on the SDL march being banned in Edinburgh (Councils bans far-right Scottish Defence League March, The National, September 26), and noticed the part where it said “intending participants had already booked flights and trains from London”.

Either London has become Scottish when I wasn’t looking, or there’s no such thing as an SDL and it’s the EDL wanting to come on a wee road trip north of the Border.

Now it looks like a bunch of racist right-wingers have wasted money on flights etc to come to a march that isn’t happening.  My heart bleeds for them ... aye, right.

Colin Dalglish
Address supplied

CATRIONA Whitton refers to the effects of the currency issue in the referendum (Letters, September 25). There is no doubt now that it has been shown to have been the biggest issue which adversely affected the Yes vote. 

Ronnie Morrison and I wrote a wee book called Moving On a year before the referendum in which we addressed this issue. We are currently writing another in which we are addressing directly what should be done on this issue before another referendum campaign starts.

Andy Anderson
Dunoon

IN response to the ONS report that claimed that Dundee is the most miserable place in Scotland (Dundonians are unhappy? It’s a load of rubbish, The National, September 26), I agree with councillor Jimmy Black that this is (mostly) rubbish. It certainly shouldn’t be taken as a judgment on the character of the people of Dundee.

People who responded to the survey may feel less wellbeing, but perhaps this is more likely to be a hang-over from the east coast’s Calvinist “we’re-all-doomed-sinners” past and less to do with the city and it’s people (See Bill Duncan’s Wee Book of Calvin for a hilarious take on this). 

I have always found Dundonians to be cheery, stoic folk with a can-do attitude, a bit like Glaswegians. The cities share a lot – a loss of industry etc, and with it, perhaps a loss of purpose. Having a strong sense of purpose is central to wellbeing. Also, as The National has reported previously, Dundee is the benefits sanction capital of Scotland. 

Successive Westminster governments have let it down, like they’ve let down Scotland as a whole. Now, with the SNP having historically taken Dundee West (the magnificently ponytailed Chris Law), and with the improvements to the city also noted in the ONS piece, I feel the city is rediscovering it’s purpose, pride and place. I’d like to see those stats again in a few years.

Mhairi Brooksbank
Livingston

No Trident debate for Labour Party conference

Corbyn slated for error-filled remarks on Scottish affairs

Out of ideas and in step with Osborne: SNP MSP takes aim after Kezia Dugdale’s speech

The National View: Jeremy Corbyn disappoints with tired old lines about SNP