Readers' Letters: Let’s get the Scottish Parliament abolished

So concerned am I about the appalling standard of governance in Scotland by the Scottish Parliament that I’ve emailed Scottish Secretary Alister Jack. I stated it’s become obvious the current system of governance is failing and drastic change is necessary to avoid further catastrophe.

Alister Jack, Secretary of State for Scotland, should look at the effectiveness - or lack, thereof - of the Scottish Parliament, says reader (Picture: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

I stated many people are so disgusted by the conduct of the SNP-led Scottish Parliament that they're writing to Scottish newspapers every day stating they want the extremely expensive, hugely divisive Scottish Parliament abolished.

I stated there was a referendum in 2014 giving voters an opportunity to vote for independence; however, despite the dominant SNP-led Scottish Parliament cheating by allowing 16 and 17-year-olds and European citizens to vote to increase the possibility of getting the outcome they wanted, there was still a significant majority voting to reject independence.

The SNP never accepted that and have since done everything they can to try to force another referendum.

Instead of making proper use of taxpayers’ money and the powers devolved to them the Scottish Parliament has deliberately abused them.

I pointed out three (of many) examples of failings. Firstly, using taxpayers money to instigate legal proceedings in the Supreme Court to try to bypass approval from the UK Government to hold another referendum. Secondly, the ongoing massively late and over-budget “ferries fiasco” – for which the Scottish Parliament blocked transparency and scrutiny. Thirdly, the GRR Bill and the Isla Bryson case.

The Scottish Government has created uncertainty and instability which has adversely affected Scotland; has been disastrous for many businesses; is the root cause of anxiety, misery, fear and despair to millions. Instead of acting in the interests of citizens the SNP-led Scottish Parliament has concentrated on furthering their own political aims and aspirations, causing irretrievable loss of public faith, trust and confidence.

The huge daily volume of readers' letters to Scottish newspapers indicates there's huge support for abolishing the Scottish Parliament and reverting to having direct rule from Westminster.

I've suggested Mr Jack order a Judge-led inquiry to investigate the Scottish Government's failings; collect and collate evidence of their poor governance, then seek the views of voters aged over 18 by having a referendum asking whether or not voters still want a Scottish Parliament.

I urge other readers of The Scotsman to contact Mr Jack to support having the Scottish Parliament abolished.

Kenneth McRoberts-Brannan, Dundee

Troublemaker

Some Canadian called Paul St Pierre Plamondon (no, me neither) is trying to gain prominence by visiting parts of Europe like Scotland (your article, 4 March), imitating Nicola Sturgeon at COP27 who arrived uninvited and buttonholed world leaders, who said, “Hello, but who are you?”

Mr Plamondon hopes to polarise us by referring to our king (and his, incidentally) as “the King of England”, except that he isn't. As our beloved late Queen said, “I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. King Charles III is now King of the same realm. He is also King of Canada.

Mr Plamondon suggests he is expected to kneel before the King. Very Gallic, no doubt, but we don’t do that sort of thing. But, hey, he lays it on with a trowel to insult people and arouse atavistic animosities. In another deliberate attempt to antagonise Scots, he renames the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, “The Supreme Court of England”.

Sorry, chum. Play your nursery games somewhere else. And when you fly back to Canada, remember to take Lorna Slater with you.

Andrew H N Gray, Edinburgh

No to new role

SNP leadership hopeful Humza Yousaf has surely lost the plot in advocating Nicola Sturgeon be a future international ambassador to advance the independence cause. She may well be respected to some extent on the world stage by those who don’t realise the mess in which she has left Scotland, but I would think that Mr Yousaf would do better by seeking to convince Scottish voters of the benefits of separation rather than people in far flung corners of the earth.

Already we have actors like Alan Cumming and Brian Cox, who mainly live and work elsewhere, telling the world that Scotland is a great place to be. A Scottish replacement for “Airmiles Andy” is not needed. What is required is for a wind of change to blow through the SNP and the installation of a “puppet” of the old regime hardly fits the bill.

Bob MacDougall, Oxhill, Stirlingshire

Road to ruin

It is not surprising to hear leadership candidates refer to “media bias” and so-called “misinformation” against their cause at SNP hustings. Initial attempts to exclude the press from these events also demonstrates the growing paranoia of a party hostile to scrutiny or contradiction.As Scotland’s infrastructure, public services and economy deteriorate, all three hopefuls spout slightly different versions of how they would implement unpopular policies like the National Care Service, Deposit Return Scheme, Gender Recognition and booze advertising bans.Humza Yousaf even wants to fork out money to send our outgoing First Minister off around the world again as a separatist ambassador!And we hear the expected constitutional navel-gazing from this trio, grimly determined to push for disunity and chaos on their road to ruin.

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

Fair play?

As a rugby fan I have long been aware of the BBC's bias in favour of the English team. My Irish friends call it the EBC, the English Broadcasting Corporation. If a Scots, Welsh or Irish player makes an extraordinary run it is commented on but not with the same excitement as an English player inching a few metres forward. The answer is to turn off the sound on the TV and listen to the radio. Having grown up in the US I was used to neutral commentators narrating, say, a college basketball match between teams representing two different states.

Imagine my horror, in moving to Scotland, to find out how the news is reported here on the BBC. It is clear its allegiance is to England, and to Westminster as the embodiment of England. Nothing could be more illustrative than last week's episode of Question Time, where not only did the chair talk more than some of the panellists, a twentysomething British nationalist was allowed to spout his extremist views for a considerable length of time, as if he were at a Farage rally.

Having appeared on Question Time myself, twice, when Peter Sissons was chairing, I can only mourn the passing of serious political television, serious political journalists and serious politicians.

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

Don’t judge

In his article “The answer to ‘gotcha’ questions” in Saturday’s Scotsman, Stewart McDonald misquotes Matthew 7. Not “By his fruits...” but “by their fruits shall ye know them” (and it’s verse 16, not verse 21).

More importantly he praises US theologian Reinhold Niebuhr for judging everyone in political life, atheist or religious, on their sense of charity, their idea of justice and their sense of proportion. Noble enough, but they both might have been better off looking back to the beginning of the same chapter (vv1-2): “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” That should be at the root of any discourse – political or otherwise.

Alastair Russell, Edinburgh

A Penny lost

Week after week I watch Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt verbally destroy the SNP’s Deidre Brock. If this is an example of the SNP’s “wonderful talent in Westminster holding the UK parliament to account”, as described by the leading contender for First Minister, we are indeed in trouble. It has reached the stage where I look forward to it. Every time the nationalist MP asks her presumably SPAD-devised question, Ms Mourdant effortlessly sends it for six. Why does she bother asking, one must ask.

But it makes any watcher wonder: why did the Tories not elect Ms Mordaunt leader? I know being an effective Prime Minister involves more than being able to perform in the House, but her command of her brief is unmatched and she is brighter than bright, her opponents appearing as pygmies in comparison. Even as a decidedly non-Tory, I can recognise talent.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Get tough

Jane Bradley's article “Refugees are not experts on asylum policy or the law” (Scotsman Online) is rather one-sided. Immigrants good, UK politicians bad. She says that those from Afghanistan have no idea what the rules are. Surely by getting on a truck and being clandestinely transported through the numerous safe havens in Europe, then onto a rubber dinghy, should make them realise they are not welcome in the UK. In 2021 28,431 migrants crossed The Channel, 45,728 in 2022. Housing and feeding these Channel migrants costs taxpayers £5 million a day.

Jane Bradley says few can read and write so she must admit they would be unemployable, pay no taxes, but would use our already overburdened NHS and welfare services and jump the social housing queue. Does she intend to promise to house and feed a migrant family like Nicola Sturgeon did (but did not)? The public are demanding action. Migrant charities should immediately have their charitable status removed.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

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