I PREDICTED at the time Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader, that the Westminster system would soon curb his progressive streak, and I take no comfort in my prediction proving correct.

Instead of forming a progressive alliance with the SNP against the Tories, Corbyn has gone down the road of “SNP bad,” whereby Labour must never support anything they propose, even if he agrees with their view, as in the case of Trident.

Corbyn, along with his Labour MP colleagues, including the only representative of London Labour’s Scottish branch in Westminster, Ian Murray (ironically a self-proclaimed unilateralist), refused to support an SNP motion to scrap the plans to renew Trident.

This despite the fact Corbyn became vice-president of CND only a matter of days ago. You could not make this up.

No matter what Labour’s Scottish branch say, their imperial masters in London call the shots.

I have said it many times and I’ll continue to say until we finally break free from the shackles of the London establishment: Scotland will never get a fair hearing from Westminster.

I genuinely believe the Tories are now asset-stripping this country bit by bit. We now know that the election of Corbyn as a way of offering hope from Westminster was a false dawn, as he toes the establishment line on key issues.

Nothing has changed. The only way we can protect Scottish jobs and begin to tackle the terrible poverty that is endemic across Scotland is to take control of our own affairs.

Charlie Sherry, Clydebank

THE recent vote on Trident, where around 20 Labour MPs duly trotted in line behind the Tories to continue to waste billions on nuclear weapons, highlights the extent of the problem faced by Jeremy Corbyn.

It is clear that his parliamentary colleagues do not respect him or care for his views on Trident – or for that matter much else.

A further example of their complete disregard for him was in the defence review debate where, over the course of the debate, every Labour MP who sat on the front bench alongside Corbyn got up and walked out, leaving him sitting alone by the end of the debate.

Irrespective of the wishes of the Labour party members who voted Corbyn as their leader, it seems clear that the Parliamentary Labour group is in open revolt against him and it can only be a matter of time until he is ditched.

Kenny MacLaren, Paisley

Syria strikes must not be done lightly

AS the likelihood of British airstrikes against Isis forces in Syria increases by the day, it is vital that any such action approved by Parliament is conditional on meeting four requirements.

Firstly, legality through the explicit authority of the UN Security Council.

A recent UN Security Council resolution asks that member states take “all necessary measures” to redouble and co-ordinate their efforts to eradicate the safe haven established by IS in significant parts of Iraq and Syria.

Whether this provides legitimacy for airstrikes is open to question and there have been calls for a UN Chapter VII resolution, explicitly legitimising military action.

Secondly, there must be explicit attainable military and political objectives with a high chance of success, to ensure our military action doesn’t do more harm than good.

Thirdly, specific measures are needed to minimise civilian casualties.

Finally, we need a plausible exit strategy – we must know when and how to stop. Unless all four conditions are satisfied Parliament should reject the Government’s proposed military action.

The conditions are extremely challenging – as they should be before the civil authority lets loose war, death and destruction in yet another Middle Eastern country.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh

WAR is the great clarifier, and in the case of the battle against Islamist insurgents, including Isis and al-Qaeda in Syria, the downing of the Russian warplane by the Turkish military has demonstrated this principle quite dramatically.

This incident has revealed what the real sides are in the Syrian civil war: who is fighting whom, and for what.

It is unthinkable that Turkey would have taken a decision against a powerful neighbor, fraught with incalculable consequences, without direct prior approval from the US government.

Obama has bluntly warned Russia not to attack Islamist opposition militias in western Syria that are supported by Nato.

Washington has effectively entered an alliance with al-Qaeda. The “war on terrorism” has turned into a war on Russia, a proxy war in Syria in which Washington is actively aiding its former enemies – the very same people who brought down the World Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Turkey is a member of Nato, and in any conflict with Russia we are pledged to come to their aid. The danger highlighted by this incident can hardly be overemphasised.

Washington and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar – who have been directly aiding Isis as well as more “moderate” Islamist groups – is indirectly responsible for the downing the Russian plane.

It is becoming ever clearer that Isis itself emerged and was presented in the international media primarily in line with the shifting needs of the imperialist powers as a pretext for their wars.

Though its operations were little different from the bombings and atrocities carried out by other Islamist militias in Syria, Isis was selected for attack in the media, while other similar Islamist groups continued to enjoy tacit and even explicit US support.

If the current reckless path continues, a world war is not only possible, it is inevitable.

Alan Hinnrichs, Dundee

I READ with interest Kathleen Nutt’s article (Salmond: United Ireland is as inevitable as an independent Scotland, The National, November 25).

What is not mentioned is the fact this view is widely held, but not openly expressed, by a large number of English MPs and the London-based media.

When the Prime Minister and the Chancellor speak in the House of Commons they constantly refer to Britain, which does not include Northern Ireland, instead of the United Kingdom.

In athletics and tennis it is Team GB and it is hardly surprising that some of the Northern Irish golfers would appear to be reluctant to play for Team GB in the Rio Olympic Games. One problem Westminster may have with the forthcoming referendum to decide if Britain should leave the EU is that the UK, not Britain, is listed as a member of the EU.

I find it difficult to believe that this is due to ignorance and is not just a thinly disguised campaign to persuade the people in Northern Ireland that their future lies within a United Ireland.

Thomas L Inglis, Fintry

THE SNP promised a new style of politics.

Then one of its MPs had to stand down amid a scandal over questionable business practices.

Meanwhile, the Culture Secretary was less than convincing trying to explain why public money was given to T in the Park.

Next, an SNP insider reveals what was suspected at the time, namely that the independence White Paper was based on a knowingly false prospectus, intended to mislead the people of Scotland.

Now, another MP is suspended from the SNP, this time over an investigation into missing donations at a pro-independence campaign group.

It is a new kind of politics, just not how it was intended.

Keith Howell, West Linton

UNTIL a few weeks ago, Nicola Sturgeon could walk on water.

A landslide electoral victory and another one coming up, an effective “trust me, I can fix it” approach, a well-disciplined party machine and, it appears, civil service, to do her bidding.

We need strong, able leadership, independent or not, SNP or otherwise.

More than money, this country needs reform of its public services to be more effective and cheaper, and a populace willing to eat, smoke, drink and make itself ill less, work harder, behave better and learn more at school.

We need to get real about a truly balanced energy policy to secure supply and reduce the cost of ridiculous carbon taxes. This includes fracking.

In 2007, Alex Salmond, faced with nine departments, 27 agencies, 43 councils and 152 quangoes, said, “If you are going to have joined-up government you need less bits to join up.”

Not much happened, because he faced a wall of inertia, job protection and an endless round of elections, apart from Police Scotland, implemented on an organisation used to taking orders.

More than Iraq, it seems, Tony Blair’s biggest regret was not using his landslide 2002 win to truly reform the UK. Instead, like the SNP, his mission was to keep the polls high.

No doubt the SNP’s core vote remains unfazed by recent scandals and examples of maladministration, but the people who would be tasked with carrying out, or bearing the career brunt of, these reforms will no longer be able to do this for an admired leader and vision, in the interests of their country.

They’re just like any other party now, with more, we hear, to follow.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven

I READ about your welcoming message to refugees on the front page of your newspaper (through the Daily Kos) and was so heartened to know that there are actually sane people in this world.

I’m writing from the US, which at the moment is seriously adrift in hysteria, fear, stupidity and racism ... and guns.

Where we have all but a media blackout on common sense, factual truths, a knowledge of history, critical thinking, humanity and empathy, you are a breath of fresh air ...an island of sanity compared to the vast legions of complete morons we have here.

Those of us who do not fall into that profile have our work cut out for us, believe me. Thank you for making my day and giving me hope for this crazy world.

Nancy Hendler, United States