Letter: No fan of Brown

Could Allan Massie provide evidence that "most of us - here in Scotland at least - regard Gordon Brown as a man of high principle" (Perspective, 9 March)?

Only months after the 1997 Labour victory he began to undermine Tony Blair.

He prevented Blair and Frank Field from reforming welfare and pensions and supported trade union demands in maintaining their unsustainable retirement conditions.

He initially denied, then tried to sweep the MPs' expenses disgrace under the carpet, supporting ex-speaker Michael Martin long after his sell-by date; he borrowed excessively, increasing public expenditure by 50 per cent in real terms, encouraging our national profligacy even before the credit crunch, and massively increasing the payroll-vote in the public/quangocracy sector.

Finally, inter alia, he expected us to pay for painting his North Queensferry summerhouse as "wholly, exclusively and necessarily in connection with his parliamentary duties".

These are moral issues, not just policy differences. I hope that Scotland in general has higher principles than that.

John Birkett

Horseleys Park

St Andrews

Despite Iain Gray's reputation as a plodder, one detects a Machiavellian streak in his relegation of Wendy Alexander to the kitchen sink to engineer the selection of either Ian Smart or Mike Dailly as nominee to contest Renfrewshire North and West for Labour at the forthcoming election.

As both gentlemen are serious lawyers, one wonders what promises Mr Gray has made, and if the Scottish people will be denied the rantings of Labour's current justice spokesperson, the hapless Richard Baker.

Graeme McCormick

Arden

by Loch Lomond