Scotland on Sunday letters: Sturgeon’s iron discipline papered over party cracks

The SNP leads on its website with a long list of her achievements – considered debatable by many – over eight years as first minister. Yet, for me, her greatest achievement is one not bigged up by her party: she very effectively papered over the deep fissures in the SNP and maintained rigid party discipline.

​Nicola Sturgeon has presented the SNP as a unified, liberal, left-of-centre yet moderate party

The SNP leadership contest has shown deep division in the party. Of course, all candidates want to drag Scotland out of the UK against the will of the majority – so far, so obvious. But different paths to achieving this are proposed. Regan supports the Sturgeon de facto election wheeze, while Yousaf and Forbes now feel brave enough to challenge that. Yousaf backs the Gender Recognition Reform Bill; Forbes and Regan prefer to avoid another potentially humiliating UK Supreme Court clash with Westminster. Plus, Forbes holds a stance to the right of her opponents in the economic and fiscal arena.

The most significant area of massive divergence appears, of course, on social matters with Forbes in particular, holding ultra-conservative views. Sturgeon has successfully presented the SNP as a unified, liberal, left-of-centre yet moderate party with a clear focus on independence and how to get there. The leadership contest has exposed this as a sham. We now have clear evidence that the party holds views ranging from the highly radical to the ultra-conservative, inadequately glued together by its dislike of the UK.

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Scottrish Borders

Empire strikes back

The search in the leadership contest for who can follow Nicola Sturgeon reminds us of the joke when Bernie Winters was being heckled at the Glasgow Empire Theatre when his brother Mike then appeared on the stage. A voice broke the silence and cried out, “Aw for **** sake there's more of them.”

Allan Thompson, Glasgow

Tough choice

Surely the SNP can do better for their leader than a 32 year-old with illiberal views, a minister who has made a total mess of his health brief and an unknown woman? I despair!

Elspeth Campbell, Edinburgh

Nuclear option

the UK Government has appointed Andrew Bowie as the first Nuclear Energy Minister. This is excellent news and will perhaps lead to a clear understanding that nuclear generating capacity will need to be increased substantially over the next 27 years if the UK is to have any chance of meeting the net zero target by 2050

What is not recognised by the current Scottish Government is that, without nuclear generating capacity in Scotland, it will not be possible to achieve net zero in the energy sector in Scotland by 2045.

However, the Scottish Government may try to mislead the public by pretending that carbon emissions produced in England by gas generators and their electricity imported into Scotland do not count towards our emissions.

Fortunately Great Britain has an electricity grid which serves all parts of the country and Scotland will benefit from more new nuclear plants being built in England and Wales and help reduce gas generating capacity.

The SNP’s energy policies are not fit for purpose. I suggest they should consider co-operating with Andrew Bowie to reach a consensus, with the help of expert engineering advice, on what is in Scotland’s best interests.

C Scott, Edinburgh

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