WHEN asked about the Euros in this week’s “debate”, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer only referenced England in their responses. Whether or not you care about football, and whether Stephen Flynn (or anyone else this side of the Border) would support England, it is their attitude that should register with Scottish voters.

Ironically it was the perfect moment to mention Scotland, which had been airbrushed for the entire hour, but no, the UK Government is an English government that only cares about England and cannot see past it.

I sincerely hope any Scots considering voting for Labour have also registered their treatment of Faiza Shaheen. I so very much hope that her crowdfunder is successful and that her clear and honest dedication to her community and the Palestinian people is rewarded at the polls.

It would be remiss of me not to note that not only did the Conservative Party not return the millions donated by the Diane Abbott-hating Hester, but they have accepted a further £5 million. There are not words.

With any luck the wall-to-wall coverage of England’s “Bring it Home” progression through the Euros will have been so nauseatingly unbearable in its usual arrogant, over-the-top way by July 4 that it may help the SNP steal a few more votes.

The coverage of the Euros, I promise you, will be narrow-minded and, like the BBC’s omission of John Swinney’s profile from their series on party leaders (while rightfully including Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth) it will mirror the attitude of the two main Westminster parties. Only England matters. Only England counts. It speaks volumes and will never change until we dare to govern ourselves. GO SCOTLAND!!! (And remember, Rishi, Wales didn’t qualify.) Oh, and by the way, no-one in Scotland need vote Labour, such is the undemocratic state of our voting system. They’ll get in without us and forget about us when they do. Great British Energy – pull the other one.

To end on a positive. Team MacIntyre were truly magnificent in their triumph at the Canadian Open. I didn’t see them on the front of a single paper. Can you imagine if an English father and son had won a PGA Tour event for the first time?

Had it not rained in Barbados, I believe the Scottish cricket team were on course to record a victory over the reigning World Champions, England, in the T20 World Cup. What a deeply ironic outcome.

And finally – how incredibly disrespectful, rude and appalling for Sunak to leave the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations early. Unforgivable and it will have been clocked by Macron and Biden, as well as many veterans and their families.

Jenny Pearson
Edinburgh

ONE of the many recent opinion polls showed that about half of those who voted SNP in 2019 have now deserted the party (Poll suggests Starmer’s party are 10 points ahead of SNP, Jun 5). More than a quarter of those who voted for the SNP in 2019 are set to back Labour on July 4.

Some 29% of all voters said they will vote SNP. Labour was polling at 39% – a 10% gap. If accurate, that could see the SNP return only seven Westminster MPs, while Labour would win 41. Only around 10% of 2019 SNP voters said they still have not made up their minds. Other polls have painted a less pessimistic outcome but not by much.

Despite these facts, John Swinney insisted the SNP could still win the election in Scotland. He said “There is four weeks of campaigning to go. I want to build SNP support towards polling day.”

This statement ignores the fact that many thousands of postal ballot papers will drop through letterboxes on or around June 20 – less than two weeks away.

In 1974 the party was in a broadly similar position, both in terms of share of the vote and potential number of Westminster seats. It seems that the efforts of thousands of SNP supporters, members, activists and candidates over the past 50 years, many of whom have since passed away, have been for nothing.

It has been all downhill since 2014. A failure to keep independence at the front and centre of the political agenda, an obsession with gender and pseudo-green politics, Operation Branchform, a perceived failure to tackle hospital waiting times and waiting lists, the never-ending saga of the Port Glasgow ferries, and most recently, to cap it all, the Michael Matheson iPad issue, have all helped take the SNP down to where it is now.

It is beginning to look like we might have to wait another 50 years to see an independent Scotland.

Iain Wilson
Stirling

CONFIRMATION came to Scotland on Thursday that no-one should believe anything the Scottish Conservatives say!

This confirmation came from none other than the Conservative leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross MSP.

Back in 2020, on becoming the Conservative leader in Scotland, Mr Ross announced he would be standing down from Westminster at the next General Election to concentrate on his role as leader in Scotland and MSP.

The announcement of this General Election has heard some 80 Conservative MPs announcing they are not standing for re-election, Mr Ross being one of them, yet on Thursday a political U-turn was performed by none other than Mr Ross.

In this action, Douglas Ross MSP is treating the electorate with contempt, and I am sure the voters in Aberdeen North and Moray East constituency will not have the wool pulled over their eyes by Mr Ross and the Conservatives government at Westminster that Mr Ross has been part of, sitting comfortably on the Conservative benches.

So, let’s just remind ourselves of this record of Mr Ross’s Conservatives – crashing the economy, inflicting sky-high fuel costs and mortgages on the country, and inflicting 14 years of austerity.

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk