JACK Bell of Glasgow (Letters, Jul 23) accuses me and other contributors of “doing the Unionists’ job for them”. I would contend that those doing the Unionists’ job sadly inhabit some of the upper tiers of the SNP leadership and have been greatly aided over past few years by some apparent supporters of independence, like Mr Bell, who refuse to see the reality of the current Scottish political situation brought into sharp focus by the recent UK General Election result.
Losing over 80% of your MPs should be a wake-up call for anyone. I have so far resisted the obvious statement of “I told you so”, but here goes – “I told you so”.
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I do not “write from a desk at the Telegraph” but from my home in Paisley, which now again has a Unionist Labour MP. It is a sad fact that on July 4 both the Paisley and Renfrewshire SNP candidates got fewer votes and a smaller percentage of the vote than the Paisley SNP candidate David Rollo achieved in October 1974 when I first joined the SNP 50 years ago.
Mr Bell and others who choose to ignore the political storm which almost wiped the SNP from the Westminster map need to wake up to the fact that the Scottish electorate want and need competent politicians who inhabit the real world of jobs, housing, fuel bills, taxes and the like rather than those obsessed by their pronouns, searching for their chromosomes and who cannot even manage a contract for the production of two small ferries.
When the electorate can see evidence of competent day-to-day government, they may then make the next logical step and examine the case for Scottish independence. They also did not take too kindly to a party that fully supported a minister involved in an expenses saga in the weeks leading up to the election.
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I apologise in advance if Mr Bell is offended by my bluntness, but unless he – and sadly, the leadership of the SNP – wake up and smell the political coffee, the fast-approaching 2026 Holyrood elections will provide them with another, possibly fatal, political kicking.
I had hoped, like many others of my generation, to see Scottish independence in my lifetime but I fear that day will now be somewhat far, possibly several lifetimes, into the future.
Brian Lawson
Paisley
I MUST write in defence of Brian Lawson, who is a regular contributor to the paper’s letters pages. Mr Jack Bell of Glasgow claims that Brian (and some others) are doing the Unionists’ work for them!
What utter nonsense. Brian Lawson – as well as being a friend – has done more for the independence movement than most, and I’m certain more people in Paisley and the west of Scotland will have heard of Brian rather than Mr Bell.
For the record, Brian was an SNP councillor for around 25 years and is on track for his 50th year as an SNP member. He has stuck with the party through thick and thin times, always relied upon to do the hard graft of campaigning and representing the party including spells as council leader in Renfrewshire and council group leader for the SNP.
He was instrumental in the Yes Paisley campaign –and Paisley was the only part of Renfrewshire to vote Yes in the last indy referendum. He has campaigned relentlessly for both the party and the cause of independence.
However, that does not mean he has to remain silent when he – and others – see the party drifting away from its main aim of independence for Scotland. He has earned the right more than most to criticise the party when he feels that it is harming the cause for independence.
I may not always agree with Brian but I always respect his opinion. It’s a shame that the party is full of group-think clones who can’t decide for themselves but rely on a party spokesperson to give them their viewpoint. We need more Brian Lawsons in the SNP, not fewer. Only then can we focus on what is meant to be our main aim – independence.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
AS the dust from the election settles we are starting to see the true values of the Labour Government.
Despite voluminous evidence pointing to Israeli genocide in Gaza, they continue to support the export of weapons which contribute to that genocide. They also refuse to publish legal advice that they demanded be published by the Conservative government.
On the home front they support the continuation of child poverty by refusing to end the two-child benefit policy despite every child-related charity identifying it as a major contribution to child poverty. Numbers affected will continue to grow.
Their response of setting up reviews to examine these issues appears to be lifted from Yes Minister and designed to kick the issues into the distance.
Already the potential moral bankruptcy of this new government is emerging, as it behaves in a similar fashion to its predecessor.
“Meet the new boss: same as the old boss”, as The Who sang in the song Won’t Get Fooled Again!
David Howie
Glen Road
SINCE the election I have been appalled at the antics of the SNP. John Swinney has recommended carbon capture over stopping fossil fuel extraction. No wonder they chucked over the Scottish Greens. They seem to have little interest in climate change. Maybe they think there will be a magic trick – most probably promoted by Donald Trump – to cure the desperate condition of our planet. What has happened? Why does no-one care?
We, the human race, probably have no future. We have just sent five people to prison for daring to make a case for the environment. It’s become clear that not a single politician is in support of fixing the crisis we find ourselves in. If there is a God, he must be laughing at the mess we’ve made.
Tony Kime
Kelso
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