I HAVE never thought the depth of someone’s contribution to the independence cause had to be points-based, but if Alyn Smith MP wishes to rather patronisingly imply that his view on tactics and strategy is clearly correct due to his 20 years of commitment then please allow others to respond in kind (Plan B talk is ‘showboating chaff’ and hard to deliver, July 7).
I have committed the last 41 years of my life to the battle for independence, and stood for the SNP at national elections when the political climate was much less favourable than now.
I actually agree with Alyn Smith when he states that a Catalonian-style informal referendum is the wrong approach, not least because the Unionists would boycott it, but the alternative to the stalemate of Section 30 is not an informal referendum. The clear and internationally validated path is the advocacy of a parliamentary mandate as the trigger for negotiations with Westminster, followed by a one-question confirmatory referendum and then the first independent Scottish election.
READ MORE: Alyn Smith: Plan B talk is ‘showboating chaff’ and hard to deliver
For the benefit of both Mr Smith and Mr Wishart, can I draw their attention to the SNP manifesto for the Westminster elections in 1997? The relevant section on “Gaining independence” outlines how the election of a majority of SNP MPs will initiate negotiations for independence with Westminister, and at the end of the negotiation period (estimated to be 6-12 months) the settlement will be put to the Scottish people in a one-question confirmatory referendum. When this is assented to, independence will be declared and the first independent Scottish General Election will be held to elect the first independent government.
The majority of Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia which received independence from the UK in the 1950s and 1960s followed exactly the same constitutional path. Plan B is no step off the edge of the world into darkness, but rather a step into the light of constitutional clarity, based on the fundamental rock of the UN Charter which enshrines national self-determination, which will end Westminster perpetually thwarting the sovereignty of the Scottish people.
Cllr Andy Doig (Independent)
Renfrewshire Council
EXCELLENT article by Lesley Riddoch (It’s time to tell Tories we need powers to deliver, July 9). In this article Ms Riddoch exposed the smoke and mirrors of Chancellor Rishi Sunak MP as he cheerfully presented his statement on Wednesday. Unfortunately there was little to cheer about for those facing a desperate financial and employment future.
Ms Riddoch exposed the loophole of the Westminster government’s “Kirkstart Scheme”. A scheme guaranteeing a six-month work placement for 16-24-year-olds funded by the government sounds very plausible, but as usual the real story is in the detail. The loophole being that you are only eligible if you are in receipt of Universal Credit and you can only be in receipt of Universal Credit if you are over 18 years old!
READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch: Tories must give Scotland powers to deliver for our economy
This begs the question, what happens to the 16-18-year-olds? Surely they are not going to be left to slip through the net and become statistics?
Considering the employment crisis looming, the Westminster government should have at least guaranteed some form of work package for all 16-24 year olds – after all, they are the country’s future and we must protect them if we are to have any form of economic recovery.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
IT comes as no surprise that the BBC are “repeating the same mistakes of 2014” , simply because the BBC don’t see what they did in 2014 as a mistake.
This organisation is not an impartial news broadcaster, it is funded to support the British establishment and everything – including the truth and impartiality in reporting – is secondary to maintaining the continuance of the British state at all costs.
As for Laura Kuenssberg, surely her performances during the Covid-19 crisis and especially her role in providing cover for Dominic Cummings highlights she is not a journalist but simply a Tory spokesperson embedded within the BBC.
Just last week the National Trust for Scotland started to refer to Neil Oliver not as a historian but simply as a journalist and commentator. Maybe it’s time for the BBC to admit the Kuenssberg isn’t a real journalist but simply a mouthpiece for Boris Johnson and the Tories. You wouldn’t buy a newspaper which treats you with such disdain and which you know lies to you – so why pay the TV licence to keep this organisation polluting the political atmosphere?
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
IT appears that Laura Kuenssberg’s job as political editor is to “edit” out ANYTHING that may show the Scottish Government in a good light. Impartiality seems to have a VERY peculiar interpretation at the English Broadcasting Corporation.
Barry Stewart
Blantyre
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