Readers Letters: Scotland needs a strong and forceful leader - not Swinney

First Minister John Swinney, in protecting the status quo, with his quiet courtesy, is not what is needed right now. With the forthcoming Holyrood election in mind, the SNP must work with the Yes campaign, Believe in Scotland and others in putting independence first, along with the good governance of the country.

Scotland needs a strong and forceful leader, with the confidence and competence of an Alex Salmond, to lead and unite the country. Sadly, this SNP-led Scottish Government, with many prominent members retiring, is short on such leadership contenders.

However, there is the articulate honesty of Kate Forbes, whose early ministerial years have been tempered by diplomacy. The tenacity and eloquence of Stephen Flynn must feature, along with the brilliant Stephen Gethins. One person who should be listened to is Alba leader Kenny MacAskill, whose vast experience should be called upon to galvanise a listless and dispirited Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney and Deputy Kate Forbes (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

What is surely self evident is that the status quo is not an option and will not excite or persuade people that independence is the only way to a prosperous and fairer Scotland. In fact, English nationalism is also contributing to the breakup of the British state – the English have always been confused about being British!

Grant Frazer, Newtonmore, Highland

Flip the question

A constant thread in Scotsman Letters is the subject of Scottish independence. Unfortunately at the moment the argument isn’t strong enough to sway opinion in its favour. Perhaps a little lateral thinking might resolve the issue.

A referendum held in Scotland has been tried. So why not turn the question round and instead of asking if Scotland wants to be part of the UK, ask if the rest of the UK wants to see Scotland independent. Perhaps we might see a Scoxit result in the same way we saw a Brexit one.

C Lowson, Fareham, Hants

Ban Kneecap

Glastonbury and the BBC both have serious questions to answer after the totally unacceptable utterances by two bands at the festival on Saturday night. Glastonbury were warned not to allow Kneecap to play but did not act. This band is also appearing shortly in Glasgow.

Similarly, the BBC must have known not only about Kneecap but the history of the preceding act, Bob Vylan, who go under this alias to avoid their real names being public, surely a “smoking gun”?

The tolerance of our society is being sorely tested by the extreme left wing. This is not freedom of speech but something far darker. Perhaps John Swinney can act and have the Kneecap Glasgow performance cancelled? Do we really need even more division in Scotland? Even tolerance has its limits, just ask an engineer.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Fair comment

Your editorial appears to support censorship of event broadcasts because of the chant “death to the IDF” (1 July). The somewhat misnamed Israel Defence Forces has brought death to 55,000 people in Gaza, plus thousands more in neighbouring countries. It has pitilessly targeted hospitals, ambulances, refugee camps, so-called “safe areas” and food distribution queues. It has used starvation as a weapon of war by blockading food and medical supplies.

These activities have been characterised by responsible international bodies as war crimes. A few brave IDF members have protested at their government's excesses but the vast majority have gone along with it. No doubt at any future reckoning they will claim they were only obeying orders. Forgive me, therefore, if I do not agree with the pearl-clutching attitude of Keir Starmer towards the Glastonbury incident. His indignation contrasts badly with his failure to make any meaningful criticism of Israel's action or take any action to end the UK's complicity in Israel's inhumane war.

Robert Cairns, Ceres, Cupar, Fife

Called it wrong

While I am delighted to see Lib Dems win a third Edinburgh Council by-election – Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart – out of the four held since the 2022 full elections, I despair at the lack of understanding and knowledge of so many political commentators and pundits. This victory was described as a surprise by many – they obviously did not remember the November Colinton/Fairmilehead election where the Lib Dems came from fourth place to first, with more than twice the number of the second-placed party. One article in the Edinburgh Evening News implied the Tories might win – they came fourth!

There is a general lack of understanding among political journaliststhat much of the public is disgusted by the performance of the SNP, Tories and Labour in government, and repelled by the policies and political and economic naivety of Reform (who finished a distant sixth in the above election), making the Lib Dems an attractive option. The Greens will always win over the far left voters, disillusioned with Labour, and pro-independence voters, repulsed by the SNP, but are unlikely to win one-off elections.

The lack of understanding is not confined to Edinburgh. The SNP MSP in Inverness, Fergus Ewing, will run as an Independent next year in the Holyrood elections, and some predict he may beat the SNP. A switched-on pundit might consider that the scenario may help the Lib Dems, who won the equivalent Westminster seat last July with the SNP vote lsplitting in two!

Last week’s BBC Question Time was held in St Andrews, where the Lib Dems have one of the largest majorities in the country (both at Holyrood and at Westminster), but not one of the five guests was a Lib Dem. Seeing the unedifying spectacle of all the guests indulging in petty childish squabbling and point scoring, it is no wonder that NE Fife is such a Lib Dem stronghold. Thankfully, the public in many parts of Scotland have a better understanding of the political landscape than the so-called experts.

Mike Gray, Edinburgh

Religion removed

Falkirk Council has become the tenth in Scotland to remove voting privileges from unelected religious representatives on its Education Committee.

This is not an attack on religion per se but religious belief imparts no special wisdom when it comes to education policy. Those who want more of their god in schools are entirely free to stand for election on that ticket but we must review the outdated law that requires religious appointees on councils in the first place.

Neil Barber, Edinburgh Secular Society

Bypassing sense

The Scotsman’s article on the worst road bottlenecks in Scotland was interesting (12 June). In almost all cases, Transport Scotland had no plans to address the shortcomings.

In light of this, might I suggest that the SNP, after 18 years in power, begin their intended cull of public sector jobs by scrapping Transport Scotland? Or does the SNP also have “no plans to address the shortcomings”?

Brian Barbour, Prestonpans, East Lothian

Old argument

A fuss is being made over the “old” and “proposed new” PIP payments. Where was the fuss when pensioners went through a similar review? A pensioner born before 1953 receives £50 a week less than one born from 1953. I guess fewer pensioners means fewer votes for MPs to fear losing,

Elizabeth Hands, Armadale, West Lothian

No honesty

We have reached the stage in SNP Scotland where even the most outrageous political acts are considered the norm. For example, erring ministers, who in any other administration in the free world would have been instantly sacked if they had not the dignity to resign, are allowed to continue in office. Adherence to the rule of law is swerved and avoided, such as a Supreme Court ruling. I could go on. But for me the really galling part is that these things in 2025 are now considered the norm, everyday happenings in SNP Scotland. It is not a big deal anymore. Hardly an eyebrow is raised.

I long for a return to honest politics and the days when even a very minor breaking of the rules – as per Wendy Alexander and Henry McLeish – was followed by principled resignations.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Name rivers

Scotland's most valuable resource is water.

Thanks to Scottish Water, an efficient and well-run nationalised company unlike the privatised horrors down south, the water from our taps is of excellent quality, and the supply as reliable as it can possibly be.

Of course, it all depends on the hydrological cycle of rain, and lochs and rivers returning water to the sea. We take our rivers for granted.

On a recent drive down the A7 to Selkirk crossing the bridge just north of the junction with the B6360, which takes you back north to Abbotsford, I could not for the life of me recall which river I had crossed.

Was it the Tweed, the Yarrow Water or the Ettrick? I then wondered why there aren't signs at bridges naming rivers flowing under them. Surely that would be a very useful way of spreading knowledge of Scotland, as well as adding place names for location purposes. Given the plethora of 20mph signs popping up everywhere the cost to name every river crossing in Scotland would be manageable.

On checking the magnificent Ordnance Survey App later I found it was indeed the Tweed, just after its confluence with the Ettrick Water.

William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire

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