SNP war blunder

Published on 27/09/2012 00:00

I WAS interested to read Alex Salmond’s comment “I’m 
proud of Scotland being part 
of a Britain that resisted 
Nazism in Europe” (your report, 25 September).

Given the modern SNP’s clear commitment to opposing fascism, I’m sure Mr Salmond was too embarrassed to recall that Douglas Young, leader of the SNP from 1942 to 1945, preferred jail to being conscripted into the British Army to play his part in resisting Nazism. In this, he ­enjoyed the full support of the SNP secretary Dr Robert McIntyre, who went on to become the SNP’s first MP.

While Mr Young struck a pose in Saughton jail, serenaded every Sunday by Dr McIntyre’s bagpipe players, young Scots fought and died alongside their comrades from the UK and it’s allies to free Europe from fascism. If those Scots had followed the SNP lead, we might not have a society where Mr Salmond can praise their actions now.

For the sake of historical accuracy, it would have been nice to see an acknowledgement and apology for the major error made by the SNP during the Second World War.

Graham Day

Victoria Road

Falkirk, Stirlingshire