Scotland on Sunday Letters: Gambling on independence vote

Nicola Sturgeon fears that the Supreme court will rule that the Scottish Government does not have the power to hold a referendum on independence and is taking a gamble on using the next election as a de facto constitutional vote.

De facto my foot, I say, as this is gross abuse of our democratic system which is purely to establish the electorate’s preference on which MSP they wish to represent them.

This is a desperate move from a desperate SNP leader who is under intense pressure as she has achieved no progress towards independence since taking over from Alex Salmond eight years ago.

The latest polls on Indy 2 in Scotland show little support for another referendum as there are greater concerns over inflation and rising energy and mortgage costs.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gives her keynote speech on day three of the Scottish National Party Conference in Aberdeen. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Bucksburn, Aberdeen

Standing down

Five legal experts have stood down from the Covid inquiry. Each states that they are standing down for “personal reasons”. This is unprecedented, even in present day Scotland where the tentacles of the SNP appear everywhere and in every major function of state.

I am not a subscriber to conspiracy theories. But surely, to allay fears, we could have clear explanations for these resignations in non-legalise. We, the people whose taxes pay all their salaries and expenses, deserve to know more than any other in a matter that affected so many of us. The longer the delay, the more conspiracy theories grow and become more feasible by the day.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Political playground

To look at political party conferences and to listen to their pronouncements, is to see how ineffectual politicians have become. In fact, they are now powerless in the face of pressure groups, big business, and the money men who really run the country. So, in defence of their own self-interest and survival, the political classes have merged into one. A vast concert party for their own benefit.

Their collective political hypocrisy is astounding. We hear party leaders, who have never had a real job, claiming to represent hard working families, or campaigning against austerity, while drawing salaries and expenses beyond the imagination of those who actually are hard working.

Profligate local authorities bleat about funding while paying their executives hundreds of thousands of pounds. MPs indulge in second home switching, while suggesting a mansion tax. It is no longer one political party against another, it is now the collective political class against the whole of the people.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross

Failed to progress

So the “Detestgate” debacle rumbles on with SNP politicians John Swinney, Shona Robison and Pete Wishart backing Nicola Sturgeon’s “detest Tories” comment, while numerous other MPs and MSPs have objected, finding Sturgeon's language offensive and inflammatory.

Let’s remember many SNP members feel alienated from Sturgeon who, in eight years, has utterly failed to progress their cessationist cause. Surely Sturgeon, keen to distract from the SNP’s continuing lacklustre performance in governing Scotland, was playing to the radical wing of her party, desperate to win their shaky loyalty and repeated applause?

Martin Redfern, Melrose Roxburghshire

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