HOW are elected members and ordinary members of the SNP viewing the leadership candidates? A very pertinent question, don’t you think?

Are they looking at the future leader of the SNP and ultimately Scotland’s first citizen and First Minister through their own vision and aspirations for independence? Are they looking at the candidates and weighing up who will best serve and promote Scotland on all sorts of issues including the economy, climate change, welfare, health, education, trade and much, much more?

I know the media are not concentrating on those vitally important issues, issues the country must concentrate on and have a vision for going forward. Instead they are trying to personalise the leadership campaign, concentrating on issues personal to individual candidates.

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No leadership candidate for any political party in the UK in last decade has had to endure the personal scrutiny the media have deluged on one of the SNP candidates, and it is quite frankly a step too far and out of order. The SNP encourages and promotes diversity and equality for all, promoting that people’s personal choices should be respected.

All three current candidates have held high office in the government and none was scrutinised by the media to such a degree before accepting office or being appointed to office, so what has changed? The manner in which some journalists and media have performed in recent days regarding the SNP leadership candidates has certainly not respected individuals’ right to choose. The media suggestion that depending on the outcome of the leadership election the coalition with the Greens may end is quite frankly scaremongering and it may be worth remembering that the SNP ran a minority government at Holyrood from 2007-11.

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk

WHEN Nicola Sturgeon brought the Greens into government it was a move that I found difficult to accept and it started me in the direction of leaving the SNP. I can understand the need to resolve the matter of operating a government short of a majority of seats, but foreseeing issues that might arise I would rather have seen a better solution. Recent events have confirmed my views in regard to this.

Green Party leader Patrick Harvie has now waded into the SNP leadership campaign, seeing fit to attack one of the candidates based on the headlines rather than the substance of what she had to say. That he should find it appropriate to attempt to manipulate the affairs of another party – with threats to withdraw from a partnership if a candidate who is not to his liking is elected as leader – is to his disgrace. This man’s presumptuous statement is indicative of the disproportionately powerful position that he had been handed by the retiring First Minister.

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The Green tail has been allowed to wag the Scottish Government dog too often. For my part I hope Kate Forbes wins and that the Greens will make good on what they have said and go back into their previous position as a very small minority party. We will then be able to see clearly whether what we are getting is what we voted for, rather than the government pandering to the of their much smaller “partners” to get an easier passage of the annual budget through Holyrood.

Ni Holmes
St Andrews

THE phrase “courageous decision” was made famous by the wonderful sitcom Yes Minister. It was used as a euphemism to highlight the pending political ruin of an elected official. I am of course reminded of this as a result of Kate Forbes’s introduction into the race to be leader of the SNP and consequently (and more importantly) First Minister of Scotland. She has certainly shown so much “courage” that Sir Humphrey Appleby wouldn’t know where to start.

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While I acknowledge her views on gay marriage, for example, they are abhorrent and should not be considered mainstream and should certainly not form part of any rational political thinking from a future First Minister. Any supporters she has left following the disastrous first 48 hours or so of this week cannot dismiss her utterances as a mere distraction.

I wholly accept that there can be no dilution of the pro-independence message by the new leader, however most SNP and Yes supporters would hope that the next incumbent of Bute House would be the last in the context of a devolved settlement. That is why it is imperative that Ms Forbes should not be the candidate to take an outward-looking Scotland into the brave new world of independence.

D A Millar
Balloch

I CONCUR with Kenneth Sutherland and Ni Holmes in Wednesday’s National regarding the disappointing headlines in your indy-supporting paper.

As an SNP supporter I will buy The National regardless, but to attract new customers/supporters more emphasis should be put on eye-catching positive stories on the front page.

For example, Tuesday’s edition could have had Shona Robison’s £8.6 million extra cash to mitigate Westminster’s benefit cap, and Wednesday could have had John Swinney’s £100m cash boost for councils and the creative arts.

The day-to-day stuff can be accommodated on inside pages, but first you have to pick up the paper from the news stand. Leave the negative headlines to the Unionist press, of which sadly there is a proliferation.

Angus Ferguson
Glasgow

I'M more than slightly disappointed that a great news story in the paper on Wednesday regarding Sir Chris Whitty’s comments on the Scottish NHS leading the way was shoved onto page nine. What boost that would have given the SNHS.

Ken McCartney
via email