Letter: Russell was right to oppose closures

THE focus of Eddie Barnes' Insight piece (9 January) seems to be to portray Michael Russell MSP as the villain for his attempts to support local concerned parents in their fight against Liberal/Tory/Independent councillors' proposals on school closures.

I suspect Mr Russell has a great deal of support from those beleaguered parents ("He was very helpful") and the approval of the retiring MSP Jim Mather. After all, Mr Russell is and has been an Argyll & Bute resident for some 20 years.

With regard to Mr Barnes' snide comments regarding Mrs Russell's promotion to head of a school in Dunoon, is he suggesting something improper took place in the interview process? Or conversely does he opine that she should show no personal ambition because of her marriage? Not a very modern concept.

It is regrettable that Eddie Barnes ignores the scandal that was the critically flawed closure document in an attempt to smear an effective MSP. It should be noted that it was only through the efforts of the Argyll & Bute SNP councillors themselves that these flawed proposals were withdrawn.

Dorothy Macdonald, Oban