Constitutional Convention in waiting would convey enormous strength

On the other side of a warp in time and space, the SNP came to believe that competing against a party based in another country, the Labour Party, was irrelevant to the cause of independence.

It seems there is nobody left in the SNP with long enough memories to remember that the Labour Party, headquartered in England, is inherently anti-Scottish, not deliberately but because its dogged pursuit of power at Westminster leads it to pursue votes where they are most plentiful – in England.

Some in the SNP are suggesting there will be very little difference between a new Labour government and the present Conservatives. Think again. There are currently fewer than 200 Labour MPs. After the General Election, there are likely to be more than 300 and their focus, ultimately, will be on re-election. All sorts of pet projects unfriendly to Scotland can be expected.

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Labour nationalised the UK steel industry in 1967 and that led to Scotland’s steel industry expansion plans being gutted in favour of massive investments in the rest of the UK. Ten years later, the Callaghan government created the nationalised British Shipbuilders, headquartered in Newcastle, just a short walk from Swan Hunter and other competitors to the remaining cargo ship builders on the Clyde.

Major expansion in Scotland was scuppered and companies such as Scott Lithgow went under.

Forget the Tories (they actually brought investment to Scotland in the 1950s and 60s). It was the Labour Party that shafted Scotland’s industrial heritage and crippled its future prospects. As often in the past, Labour will struggle to balance their budgets. They will look to maximise cash generation from Scotland, minimise investment in Scotland and seek to maximise the vote-gathering power of investment in England.

For the SNP not to be 100% focused now on independence is tantamount to an act of treason against Scotland. The idea the independence movement should sit on its haunches until 2026 is dangerous in the extreme. A governing Labour Party might well have by then removed Holyrood, at least in its present form.

For goodness sake, SNP, wake up to the nature of the beast that you are inviting to rule Scotland, with the damage a Labour government could do to Scotland’s economy and future prospects.

Presently, the SNP are an affront to Scottish patriots, as they behave like political punch bags, incapable of responding appropriately to life-threatening blows such as radiation leaks at Faslane, the closure of Grangemouth or, indeed, Brexit.

Most independence-minded voters will probably vote SNP at the next election and they should. But we can expect the poorest turnout ever unless the SNP raise their game. We need to find a way to make the SNP become patriots again, by showing them that a GE as a “de facto” referendum is truly winnable.

I agree with those who want a Constitutional Convention but I don’t want to risk waiting for its need being desperate, for then its creation is likely to fail. Its time is now, with its establishment on an exploratory basis and with an initial objective of being prepared to support the democratic decisions of the Scottish people at any election.

That way, it can be seen to be ready to be rolled out again when needed. A Constitutional Convention in waiting would convey enormous strength and renewed purpose to the Scottish electorate, who would know a majority vote for independence was wholly meaningful. Then we can see a 60% Yes vote being surpassed. Let’s go for it!

Alan Adair, Blairgowrie

Pleased as I am that Scottish Labour at least have a delayed humanitarian conscience in voting to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, I remain confused.

With the Labour members in Scotland fighting for an action already taken by the First Minster months ago, one cannot help wondering if there are any members of the Labour movement in Scotland who may care about ordinary folk, who might also be in favour of, oh, I don’t know, capping bankers’ bonuses?

Let me think of another one – might members of Scottish Labour also want to face front and centre on the climate crisis? Grassroots Scottish Labour proved conclusively at the weekend that what goes on in Westminster is far from what is acceptable in Scotland, making a clear case for doing things 100% in a way that suits Scotland.

English Labour is the burger labelled as beef but made of horse meat – and the taste is clearly not palatable to Scottish Labour supporters. So why keep eating?

Amanda Baker, Edinburgh

What was the objective of Daniel Johnson’s breakfast briefing of Labour MSPs by Sebastian Burnside, chief economist at Royal Bank of Scotland? (It’s some kind of sick joke to invite a banker, Feb 16).

We are on the eve of an election which comes after voters’ pockets have been emptied by Tory-LibDem initiated austerity policies, Tory incompetence, high inflation, record levels of taxation, massive profits for energy suppliers and penal interest rates boosting the banks’ bonuses and dividends (which should be re-invested for the benefit of the public who rescued the banks from the results of their own greed-driven crash).

If predictions are correct, bankers will soon be enjoying unlimited bonuses under a Labour government, while the rest of us will be living on the brink of recession.

Scottish Labour MSPs could learn much more about the effects of the crisis on the doorsteps, in the shops and in the streets from those worried about paying for food, energy and housing than from the perspective of somebody who should be relatively unaffected by the crisis.

John Jamieson, South Queensferry

ONCE again no match reports on either the Warriors or Edinburgh games in Monday’s paper. Why not?

Graham Carroll via email