Readers' Letters: Sturgeon came so close to assuring a legacy to be proud of

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to media in Edinburgh after announcing she won't seek re-election to Holyrood next year (Picture: Robert Perry/PA Wire)

Much has been written about Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy. The collective view is that she was, in her own words, “a polarising figure”. Many commentators tend towards “divisive”, more reminiscent of her nemesis Margaret Thatcher, who the majority of Scots see as anathema. Hardly fitting of Sturgeon given her political astuteness is still widely regarded.

Sturgeon’s political strength lay in her communication skills, particularly during FMQs and the pandemic when many stuck at home tuned in to her daily press conferences to seek reassurance and guidance. Aided by health leaders, Sturgeon provided both in abundance, in sharp contrast to Boris Johnson, who blundered through, consistently breaking his own rules, leading to widespread distrust.

Her other enduring success was to lead the SNP to win Holyrood elections in 2016 and 2021. She showed she was a conviction politician determined to champion progressive taxation and welfare reform, but a series of policy failures and her obsession with independence led to her downfall. As the late Alex Salmond said, she was badly advised to push for a second indy referendum after the Brexit vote. This raised hopes which were dashed at the Supreme Court, a “democratic outrage” Sturgeon said, and then the muddle over gender reform. Sturgeon was out of ideas and exhausted, she resigned knowing that her independence goal, abolition of child poverty and the narrowing of the attainment gap lay unfulfilled.

She is one of a third of SNP MSPs not standing at next year’s Holyrood election. They know they can’t win without a strong leader and hope of independence appears gone. For Sturgeon, determination and commitment proved inadequate without consistent delivery.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Snouts out!

As the list of SNP incompetents – aka MSPs – leaving the Scottish Parliament at the next election grows, how utterly galling to the taxpayers that they will all walk away with tens of thousands of pounds, each headlined as a “resettlement grant”. This does not include the generous pension payments also funded by the taxpayer. Heading the list, of course, is the disgraced Michael Matheson, who was barred from the Parliament for 27 days for, at best, misleading it over the use of his iPad while on holiday. He looks forward to “new challenges outside of frontline politics”. I sincerely hope he does not find himself appointed to any external government body or “quango” where yet again he will be paid from the public purse.

When will the Scottish public finally realise that they voted for the “snouts in the trough” in 1997 and that this land of promised milk and honey as a result of “devolution” has improved the lives of Scots by the square root of not a lot?

Richard Allison, Edinburgh

Fast forward

Jill Stephenson claims those who supported Nicola Sturgeon when she was first minister were apparently supporting division within our society (Letters,17 March). Ms Stephenson has previously railed against the alleged “hate agenda” being pursued by independence supporters against our English neighbours. Indeed, in 2021 she wrote effusively about Canada, stating: “The Canadians are far too good-natured – and confident in their own skin – to need to feel that way about Americans”.

Fast forward four years and we now have those nice Canadians booing their neighbour’s anthem, removing US whiskey from supermarket shelves, urging a boycott of American goods, and threatening to cut power supplies to 1.5 million US citizens. Can Ms Stephenson point to any independence supporters advocating taking a similar position vis a vis England? On the contrary, the Internal Market Act enacted by Westminster makes it illegal to prevent the sale of English goods in Scotland even where they have been deemed unsafe for use here by the relevant authorities such as the Building Directorate. That means you can buy an illegal cladding panel here even though you can’t install it on certain buildings.

Robert Menzies, Falkirk

Rebuild defence

Since the Second World War ended, Nato (and before it the Atlantic Charter) has been the cornerstone of our defence policy. The time has come to confront an uncomfortable reality: we cannot now have absolute confidence that in the event of a crisis Nato membership would confer upon us the mutual defence umbrella we have thus far assumed.

As a founding member of the alliance, it is incumbent upon us and in our own interest to work with our allies to try and rebuild such confidence. Nato remains our single best hope of defending the realm in times of war.

However, in parallel we ought now to urgently rebuild our own national defence capabilities, which have shamefully been degraded by successive governments over the past half century.

We ought also to forge a more active, robust military alliance with Commonwealth allies who have come to our aid previously, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as select European countries.

We share a largely common worldview on key matters and such alliances can provide useful collaboration and support alongside Nato membership.

Christopher Ruane, Lanark, South Lanarkshire

Ban the SNP?

The UK is in a period of danger, as a nation and as an integral part of Nato, without parallel since the end of the Cold War. And whether the nationalists like it or not, Scotland remains an integral part of the UK.

As the danger increases, almost on cue, the SNP have doubled down on their “reverse-Midas” strategies. Naive blind opposition to our nuclear deterrent is the perfect example. Many sensible people now take the view that whatever the SNP suggest is unfailingly the wrong choice, and as a matter of course incline always towards the diametric opposite of whatever they propose as the best way forward. Unilateral disarmament is the latest nationalist wheeze.

So, instead of the “Ban the Bomb” marches of my youth, may we have a “Ban the SNP” march instead?

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Nuclear madness

Euan McColm has got it completely wrong on nuclear weapons in his Scotland on Sunday column of 9 March.

As the respected Scientists for Global Responsibilty organisation have pointed out, any use of modern day nuclear weapons would cause disruption to the climate and global food supply chains .

Radiation has no boundaries – that is why the use of nuclear weapons anywhere on the planet means not one of us gets a free pass from the harm it can cause .

Like many commentators who bang the drum for nukes, Mr McColm seems to forget that most countries do not actually have nuclear weapons.

Therefore there are clearly other ways to conduct your foreign policy without being a so-called nuclear power.

Surely a sensible way forward for Scotland – independent or not – is to become a force for good in the world by encouraging the use of diplomacy and negotiation to resolve tensions between countries.

This would be a refreshing and sensible alternative to the pro-nuclear weapons arguments put forward in McColm’s column last week.

Arthur West, Irvine, North Ayrshire

Licence to…?

Noting the various media reports that the DVLA has earned an incredible sum in excess of £1.1 billion from sales of private number plates in the last five years, this on top of £700 million from the previous five-year span, I am sure I am not alone in wondering just where this huge financial windfall has been allocated.

I know where it should have been spent –on our sadly neglected roads and footpaths but, judging by conditions the length and breadth of the country, I very much doubt that to be the case.

Perhaps someone from the DVLA would be good enough to enlighten us.

David M Steel, South Queensferry, Edinburgh

Pay up, cyclists

As is to be expected Thomas Mitchell, who is a partner in Cycle Law Scotland, rushes to take the side of the cyclist (“Should cyclists have insurance?”, 17 March) Cycle Law Scotland operates on a "no win no fee" basis so such articles give them publicity.

Of course cyclists should have insurance, and also identification, since there have been far too many instances of cyclists colliding with pedestrians who are on the pavement and injuring them and then quickly cycling off into the sunset.

So a number plate on a bike, as shown in the picture accompanying the article, should be mandatory. Food delivery bikes and e-bikes are also a danger, weaving in and out of those walking on the pavements and in shopping malls.

Then there is the growing menace of e-scooters which are illegal on the roads – and pavements – in Scotland but the police do nothing. The public have paid for the cycle lanes and other specialist facilities for cyclists so it is about time they contributed to the cost.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

PIP post

No one should qualify for a Personal Independence Payment unless their claim has been independently approved by three experts unrelated to their regular GP – there's too much at stake for it to be approved by a cosy wee chat and unverified claims of mental health problems.

Steve Hayes, Leven, Fife

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