Labour out of step

You reported on shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran stating at the Scottish Labour Party conference that “Our fundamental values… represent Scottish values” (7 March).

The tragedy is that it does not. It is forced to have those of the British Labour Party, aimed at winning seats in the Tory marginals for Westminster.

For this it supports spending countless billions on replacing Trident, standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the US as the world’s policemen, promoting market fundamentalism, English “‘Great Power Chauvinism” and American individualism – all diametrically opposed to Scottish values and political culture.

Granted, the Unionist parties in Scotland must follow their Westminster lines; the tail cannot wag the dog. So, after 62 years of voting Labour, I have joined the Scottish Green Party and Democratic Left Scotland, and will vote for independence.

RAY Newton

Buckstone Way

Edinburgh