Ditch the system

In his continuing efforts to slur the SNP, Colin Hamilton (Letters, 24 April) again contributes nothing constructive.

In their persistent attempts to paint the SNP as undemocratic Mr Hamilton and scurrilous supporters of the Union omit to mention that the Holyrood voting system was designed by their favoured Westminster parties to prevent the SNP from achieving an outright majority, irrespective of the expressed wishes of the Scottish electorate.

Admittedly, the fact that the SNP have still remarkably managed to achieve such a majority has in turn revealed that there appears to be scope to enhance the construction of parliamentary committees and the associated processes necessary for rigorous legislative review.

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Given that the Scottish Government sought further scrutiny over proposed amendments to the law with regard to corroboration, I fully expect the SNP to seek to progress the “committee system” at Holyrood in the next term of government.

At the same time Mr Hamilton could help to advance democracy throughout the UK if he were to concede that the first past-the-post voting system for Westminster is no longer fit for purpose, never mind undemocratic, and that the unelected second chamber, the House of Lords, needs to be radically reformed, if not abolished altogether, forthwith.

Scotsman readers will soon be considering Mr Hamilton’s thoughtful suggestions for overhauling these key pillars of British democracy.

Stan Grodynski

Longniddry

East Lothian