Readers' Letters: SNP made itself irrelevant over Brexit

Lesley Riddoch laments that “Four long years of Brexit border warfare show vast gulf between Scotland and England- 28th December.” The truth is that the four year girn of which she was a part off was a complete waste of time.

Did Nicola Sturgeon miss the boat on Brexit?

The Liberal Democrats discovered this in 2019, the SNP will discover it in 2021. We are now in the bizarre situation that after trying to scare us with a “no- deal” Brexit for four years, the SNP now seem ready to vote for No Deal when forced to choose between this and a deal that virtually everyone else is signed up to. They are on their own. Early on in the Brexit process, the SNP said very clearly that they would not support Brexit legislation under any circumstances. The political consequence of this was that, politically, they became irrelevant. No-one would take the time to deal with them because they knew what their ultimate response would be. Westminster have been ignoring the SNP, who are not the same thing as Scotland.

If Nicola Sturgeon had wanted to tie the Brexit result to her quest for independence, she should have called for a vote the day after the Brexit vote in 2016. That was when her party was at its strongest, and the UK parliament was at its weakest. She may have been taking a chance, but what would Bruce or Wallace have done? They would have gone for it, created their own weather and momentum, and risked it all.

Ms Sturgeon didn’t do that, and now the Brexit ship has sailed. The cold light of January will reveal that the Independence ship has sailed as well.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

Bad deal for UK

Michael Gove claims the Brexit deal "works for fishermen, farmers, distillers, scientists, manufacturers, exporters, and financial services” but will need to try harder to convince Scots who voted 62 per cent for Remain. Brexit works like a ball and chain around British businesses. No tariffs or quotas on trade in goods plays to EU advantage since EU annual trade surplus is £97 billion. The UK’s surplus of £18bn in financial services is left in limbo, as services lose the automatic right to trade in Europe. Trade won’t be frictionless, customs forms will be required. The UK need not follow EU regulatory standards, yet British exporters will if they wish to trade.

The government can now invest in industries as it pleases but this will confer no trade advantage. A new board will decide whether the “level playing field” on state aid has been breached. If so, it will impose tariffs. The UK once had a say in forming EU rules on state aid but now becomes a rule-taker.

British fishermen are currently entitled to around 50 per cent of the fish in British waters. From 2026 they will be entitled to 65 per cent. A bit underwhelming?

A points-based immigration system limiting immigration will only hurt Scotland as we need immigrants of all skill levels.

And whoopee, the UK government ensuring “no barriers to Scottish companies that do business in other parts of the UK”. This has only been the law since 1707. The UK’s Withdrawal and Internal Market Bills will, however, override Holyrood, “‘levelling down” any economic benefit, in an autocratic rollback of devolution. A UK Brexiteer government we did not elect will be able to nullify beneficial legislation of a Scottish Government which we did vote for.

And UK influence will diminish globally as cooperation with the EU over defence, foreign policy and external security will cease at the request of the UK government.

Mairianna Clyde, Merchiston Crescent, Edinburgh

Brass neck

Ian Blackford MP displays a giraffe-sized brass neck when pontificating about Brexit imposing "mountains of red tape, added costs and barriers to Scottish business" (your report, 28 December)

Nineteen per cent of Scotland's exports went to EU countries in 2018, compared with sixty per cent to rUK. Mr Blackford would presumably be more comfortable with this same bureaucracy applying to our UK exports if he ever got his wish of swapping London rule for that of Brussels.

The SNP's Westminster spokesperson has nothing to say about expanded opportunities for international commerce which Brexit may offer, but this is not surprising from the representative of a nationalist party which has yet to produce a single convincing argument for independence.

Martin O'Gorman, Littlejohn Road, Edinburgh

Spud-u-dislike

I suspect Elizabeth Hands (Letters, December 29) is ignoring two features that may explain the EU decision on Scottish seed potatoes.

The first is the large and assertive Dutch seed potatoes industry. I remember a Canadian colleague complaining about very aggressive competition by the Dutch in the Americas. The Scottish trade will recall similar difficulties in the Mediterranean market in the past.

The second is the wish of the dominant ware growers in England to pay as little as possible for certified seed from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since the demise of the Scottish Seed Potato Development Council, there has been no body supported by Scottish growers and merchants to expand their market. UK interest in potatoes now tends to reflect the interests of users of seed rather than producers.

I suppose that we should expect the EU to look after the interests of a member state and the UK government to look to the concerns of those supplying the mass of consumers. Cold comfort indeed.

LV McEwan, Oswald Road, Edinburgh

Freedom to speak

At least one member of the SNP is prepared to speak out on the absurdities of her fellow members. Glasgow Councillor Mhairi Hunter rebuked supercilious, pretentious George Kerevan for his blundering analogy of the struggles of Mandela, Gandhi and King to those of the Scots under their “oppressors”. “It is far more likely to put people off” (supporting independence ) tweeted Ms Hunter. Nationalist MSP Tom Arthur tweeted that the statement was “crass. offensive and historically illiterate”.

Whilst members of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal-Democrat parties regularly question, and indeed, vote against their respective parties on matters of principle, SNP MPs and MSPs dare not speak out against the party or leadership, on pain of retribution. I have no doubt Ms Hunter and Mr Arthur will shortly receive a summons to appear before those in authority to atone.

Douglas Cowe, Alexander Avenue, Kingseat, Newmachar, Aberdeenshire

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