Readers' Letters: Harvie's comments on Trump are a danger to Scotland

At FMQ's this week Patrick Harvie called Donald Trump a “misogynist, a climate denier, a fraudster, a conspiracy monger, a racist...” (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The full-on attack by Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens against Donald Trump's victory has posed a real danger to the SNP administration.

John Swinney has at least attempted a diplomatic welcome to the incoming President, only to be undermined by the Greens, who still wield considerable power at Holyrood due to our somewhat flawed electoral system. Mr Swinney cannot possibly allow Mr Harvie to destroy our special relationship with the United States so this gives him a real dilemma when it comes to seeking support for the upcoming Scottish Budget.

The strains at Holyrood are now so great that Mr Swinney might just have to call an election after all due to the Greens’ unwarranted demands.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

​Hardly politic

Various politicians from different parties have been found wanting with their astonishing ignorance when referring to Donald Trump.

The language used to describe the president-elect is an absolute disgrace to this country and its people, these people do not reflect a view that is consistent with the aspirations of normal citizens in this country who wish to have ties with the USA. If I was Donald Trump I would refuse to deal with any of these so-called politicians.

Andrew Thorpe, Dunfermline, Fife

Congratulations

Unionist newspapers on both sides of our Border lose no chance of slating our First Minister.

Now they castigate him for congratulating Donald Trump on his victory. Why? The First Minister of every European country will be doing the same. It is good manners and John Swinney is a well-mannered man who I, and I believe everyone in Scotland, relies on to offer Scotland’s good wishes, especially as Donald Trump enjoys visiting Scotland to play golf on the course he owns.

Keir Starmer may talk about the “Special Relationship” America is said to have with the UK. Other than Westminster slavishly copying the USA by sending arms to Israel, I see little sign of it.

However, a man who plays a golf course gets fond of that course and the country it is in, and I hope Mr Trump will congratulate our First Minister when Scotland achieves self-government and is the Nation of Scotland again.

Elizabeth Scott, Edinburgh

Peace on Earth

The world has learned of the success of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections. There will be many folks globally who have misgivings about his appointment for a second term in office.

Trump has attracted a lot of bad publicity over the years, both in office and in the ensuing period, since for a person who has held high office he has been totally indiscreet in his behaviour publicly, especially during the campaign for this election. It could be said that the public expects a more measured level of control from someone in high office.

Let us hope that this situation in the USA will not lead to increased conflict globally, we already have unrest in Russia/Ukraine, also in the Middle East, with conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Let us hope Donald Trump's re-appointment to the White House does not lead to further problems internationally.

We await the future with bated breath.

Robert Iain Grant Scott, Ceres, Fife

Missed chance

Donald Trump has many faults, but the knee-jerk anti-Trump brigade ignore his success in brokering the Abraham Accords. They could well have led to a genuine Middle East settlement by its proven success in normalising Israeli relations with certain other countries – and were on the point of achieving a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia when Hamas deliberately sabotaged the negotiations by its brutal actions on 7 October 2023, knowing exactly what would follow.

Conversely, Barack Obama is still sanctified despite his flawed nuclear agreement with Iran, unwisely supported by the EU and UK and continued by Joe Biden, which encouraged that malign theocracy to extend its anti-Israel and anti-Arab influence throughout the Middle East – and it is now a close and active ally of Vladimir Putin and North Korea in their war against Ukraine’s fledgling democracy.

John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife

Reality check

Winston Churchill described Neville Chamberlain as “the man who made the political weather”. Love him or hate him, the same can be said of Donald Trump. He won by focusing on what mattered to voters, especially on immigration and the economy, and headline-grabbing positions on foreign policy, for example Israel and Ukraine (“I'll stop it in 24 hours”), Nato, international trade (“I love tariffs”), Net-Zero (“drill baby, drill”) and woke-ism, where his attack ad, “Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for you” was recognised as particularly effective. Like it or not, Trump's views will reach more ears than many of our politicians would like.

But we do need a more sensible approach on the environment: as I write, 65 per cent of our electricity is coming from gas and nuclear and only 18 per cent from wind, the threat of Russia demands more spending on defence, every day the issue of immigration grows and the identity agenda is destabilising and weakening our society

My hope is that Trump's reality check will encourage UK leaders and our economic and defence allies to inject some hard-headed common sense into their policies.

Trump's win didn't cause the German government coalition to crash on Wednesday, but the likely March election will be an early opportunity for a key player to face up to the coming “weather”.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Shock for elite

Donald Trump's resounding victory is a wake-up call for the western world. To ignore the genuine fears of tens of millions of Americans with regard to uncontrolled and illegal immigration and dismiss those complaining simplistically as being “far right” has come back to bite with a vengeance. Much the same applies to the genuine fears of many with regard to recent controversy in the western world over gender.

A Liberal elite have ruled the roost in the US and Europe, and they have tended to ignore other views. These factors, at least in part, helped decide the US presidential election. They have also been prominent in recent European elections. Parties of the centre ground must come to terms with this. You cannot reduce millions with heartfelt worries as all being far-right troublemakers. Their worries must be addressed. Otherwise, real fascism may rear its ugly head again in the western world.

Democracy is difficult to fathom at times. Donald Trump's views represent the majority of Americans. It is a worthwhile struggle to keep it alive.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Battery blight

With reference to the 6 November article in your Sustainable Scotland spread about battery energy storage systems (BESS), alarm bells should indeed be ringing in the Borders. There are currently six planning applications from energy companies to install these facilities, as they rush to take advantage of Scottish Government support for any forms of renewable energy technology – two have already been approved, with four outstanding. Of these six applications, all are to be sited on prime farmland.

Areas of the Scottish countryside are already blighted by wind farms, with more in the planning stages, and now along come solar panels and battery energy storage units. Leasing farmland to energy companies in return for an attractive annual rent must be very tempting to farmers as they continue to be squeezed by the big supermarkets and cheaper imports on food/meat prices.

The downside is that less and less agricultural land is available for food production. I believe the UK produces 50-60 per cent of the food required to be self-sufficient, which may seem reasonable, but not in these uncertain times – how quickly we forget the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, never mind current global threats of war and increased flooding due to climate change.

Agricultural land is also rapidly disappearing under housing developments the size of small towns. The UK is already one of the most densely populated and nature-depleted countries in the world – with the government relaxing planning regulations to allow more housing development of Green Belt land, and the Scottish Government’s focus on renewables, we should all start thinking about where our food is going to come from.

Kathryn Sharp, Edinburgh

Simple times

I was reading The Scotsman’s article about Simple Minds coming to Bellahouston Park next June (4 November).

It was a very different place in 1943; packed with US troops camped there, waiting to go the battlefront.

On a daily basis, my mother pushed me in my pram, from my maternal grandparents’ home in Mosspark Boulevard past Bellahouston Park, which was the other side of the tram tracks. Each time we went past soldiers would push Hershey chocolate bars through the railings, At a time when milk chocolate was very hard to come by.

My Dad had joined the RAF, my uncle the Commandos, so Mum was on her own with my Gran and Grandpa. It’s worth noting that the Yanks were always respectful and courteous. How time flies.

Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent

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