SNP has failed to deliver

Published on Friday 16 May 2008 21:48

While displaying typical arrogance and self-promotion, Alex Salmond is wrong to equate the pursuit of populist policies with his perception of an increase in his own popularity among Scotland's electorate (your report, 15 May), and he need only look back to Margaret Thatcher's era for evidence.

Arguably, Mrs Thatcher's most populist policy was the introduction of Right to Buy for council tenants, and while it was taken up by tens of thousands, it by no means increased her personal appeal to voters in Scotland and elsewhere, and the legacy it has left is the current crisis in the social housing sector.

If saving thousands of pounds in purchasing their home did not sway Scotland's electorate then, saving a quid crossing the Forth or the Tay is hardly likely to persuade undecided voters to suddenly take the SNP to their hearts. The reality is that the SNP in government has delivered little of substance and Mr Salmond's vacuous statement in parliament suggested little would change over the coming year. The honeymoon, for what it was, is surely over.

BILL GOODALL, Baird Terrace, Edinburgh