WHILE I agree with some of Kelly Given’s comments on the SNP conference, I wholeheartedly disagree with her view that “progressive policy” will win independence and that such things as a right to abortion should be enshrined in a Scottish constitution (I wasn’t Swinney’s biggest fan but he impressed me, Sep 3). I fully believe abortion should be safe, legal and rare but what she suggests is not necessary and potentially damaging.

The most damaging to the independence cause has been the chasing of extreme left-wing “progressive” policies. Why the SNP decided to get into bed with the Greens is beyond me. Why they decided to embroil themselves in the trans debate is utterly baffling and suggests they are a party of image rather than substance.

READ MORE: Eight key points in the Scottish Programme for Government explained

The Tories are successful because they do not hold any truck with these issues. They are a formidable enemy because they understand what is required to win. They may pander to their base but they know what their base is.

For the SNP to slavishly chase the latest hashtag cause is ludicrous for the simple reason that independence does not need the extreme left. The clapping mouths who shout for Antifa, Just Stop Oil etc will vote Yes when the time comes. The most ardent Green voter will do likewise because NOTHING will be achieved if they do not.

Independence needs to win the centre right and will only win when it does so. Converting every roadway to cycle lanes and backing male rapists’ rights to be put in women’s prisons (an exaggeration, but perception is all) will not help the cause.

READ MORE: Concern as Scottish Government opts for UK-wide conversion therapy ban

Nor will singing Sturgeon’s praises. Yes, she was popular. Yes, she was a great leader and politician who could debate rings around her opponents, but she ultimately failed absolutely to get us one inch closer to a second independence referendum. With a huge majority and political mandate, she meekly bent the knee when May told her “now is not the time”.

What independence requires is a centrist leader capable of winning the middle ground and in particular the centre right. The extreme left, given the choice between Westminster and an independent Scotland, will vote Yes but will never get the opportunity if we carry on with these supine, disingenuous policies which appeal only to a highly vocal minority on X (formerly Twitter).

We need Joanna Cherry and we need to be aggressively chasing independence at every turn. Would Salmond have handed over the Stone of Destiny without concessions from the English nationalist Tory party?

RJ
Glasgow

IF progressive governance is about inclusivity, mutual respect and tolerance, then Kelly Given’s attacks on Kate Forbes (Sep 3) display none of these attributes.

I for one, and I’m sure others in the SNP, feel relieved that she is the Deputy First Minister. Her presence, along with that of other like-minded individuals at Holyrood, can hopefully provide the necessary checks and balances to those who would hijack the desire for progressive governance simply to promote their own agenda.

Margaret Tuckerman
Buckie

WELL, we have had the SNP conference and we have heard all the calls for change, and the pleas for unity in the independence movement, but this is just talk, and is meaningless without action to back it up.

The SNP leadership have been acting like colonial administrators in the Scottish Government for years now, doing the UK’s bidding including publishing the GERS nonsense. Is this going to change?

READ MORE: Reject the divisive myth that higher pay makes a person 'middle class'

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Can John Swinney learn to be an independent politician or has he been too long a colonial servant to understand what independent action means?

We hear from them of the difficulties they have with the restrictions placed on the Scottish Parliament and Government by the Scotland Act, and these difficulties are indeed real enough, but what steps are they taking, or prepared to take, to move around these and challenge these where they can?

They rightly object to UK-imposed austerity, so why do they plan to accept it and not look for new sources of revenue, for example like land taxation, which would give them access to considerable new revenue, while giving them more control of our significant natural resources, and the means to redistribute wealth on a more equitable basis. That is a challenge the UK Government would not like.

READ MORE:  John Swinney announces £600 million investment in affordable housing

Again the Scottish Parliament could introduce into Scottish law some aspect of UN treaties that have been signed by the UK but not put into law in England. One MSP tells me that this can’t be done, but that is just not the case, because it has been done, albeit the UK Supreme Court, which can’t alter these treaties, has insisted on amendments in the Scottish Parliament so that the new Scottish law can’t be applied to people in England and Wales.

The Scottish Parliament could act now to put the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into Scottish law, and neither the UK Government nor the UK Supreme Court could challenge this or change this treaty, all they could do is stop it applying to people in England and Wales. If we did that, we could have a referendum on independence any time we chose, among a number of other important powers.

Respect Scottish Sovereignty have written to John Swinney pointing out some steps he could take to move our country towards independence along the lines I set out above. If the SNP leadership want change and for the independence movement to unite then they should act on this, to back up their talk, and they will find a united movement behind them.

Andy Anderson
Ardrossan