Harsh words

We have all grown very accustomed to Lesley Riddoch railing against the UK in her self-appointed role as cheerleader in chief for Scottish Nationalism, but with Monday’s article she really excelled herself.

The knock-out quote was the bold statement that “naked greed has become the main driver in British society” – this apparently based on the evidence of there being numbers of billionaires in Britain and also that Katie Hopkins gets a lot of profile from saying outrageous things.

While not particularly wanting to defend billionaires (although I suspect like every other walk of life they do include some caring and generous people) and still less Katie Hopkins (who I also suspect is not quite as awful as she sometimes appears) nevertheless, it does seem a tad harsh of Lesley to apparently write off the entire 65 million British people as being mainly driven by greed based on the supposed shortcomings of a handful.

Having said that, I am sure Lesley did not intend to include the people of Scotland in her scathing assessment.

This is clear from her final paragraph in which she suggests some more Scottish views would help all in the UK regain a sense of compassion and moral purpose. This is an even more outrageous sentiment.

In my experience a great many people in Scotland do indeed have a compassionate and moral outlook. But it is a dreadful slur on the people of the rest of the UK to imply they are any less caring than those of us who live north of the border.

On 7 May you can vote for those who genuinely want the best for everyone throughout the UK. Or, you can vote for those whose true focus is to lead us down the path of separation. I know who I prefer.

KEITH HOWELL

West Linton

West Lothian