Diktat not debate

At their Dunoon Conference in September of that year, “Republican Rose’’ Cunningham, the then darling of the SNP Left, to rapturous applause, argued and won the case that the Queen would be kept as head of state of an independent Scotland only if she was granted that right by a referendum. Alex Salmond argued against this but accepted defeat, or so it seemed.

Later, as with so many other matters of principle, such as membership of Nato, it was all quietly dropped and argument and healthy debate was replaced by diktat from the leader under the guise of what was necessary to win.

It is not only the Orwellian “War is Peace’’ Newspeak of the SNP leadership that is disturbing. It is shocking to see many in Scotland fall into the trap of accepting any of this.

In the referendum campaign this refusal to tell the unvarnished truth was startlingly apparent and surely must worry anyone who believes in fair play and honesty.

The iron discipline imposed by the SNP on their activists and representatives under the guise of not rocking the boat is now an affront to democracy.

Alexander McKay

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh