Spoken word

My mornings would be duller, though, it must be said, 
saner, without the contributions of David Roche and Douglas Turner.

I am especially taken by the former’s repeated reference in his latest contribution to “the English ruling class”, of which, no doubt, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown are part, though they were, of course, the “Scottish ruling class”. Oh, hush my mouth!

Mr Roche invents a suggestion that I am advocating the “Queen’s English” for all, whereas, of course, I was simply describing how it arose as a result of the need for people to understand each other.

Poor Mr Roche is stuck in a political interpretation of how people speak.
Some are “slovenly” and “uneducated”. I bet he does not include himself in that. Essex (being English, you understand) is a “whine”. How about Angus, if we are going to be spiteful?

Somehow, without the benefit of any means of listening to the way people used to speak in Scotland, Mr Roche confidently states that Scotland has been subject “for hundreds of years” to the accents of “colonial control”, which even Alex Salmond admits is simply not true.

Clearly, any clear understanding of history and language can be discarded when it comes to making a case for separatism in Mr Roche’s book. Does he hate anything English and everything Unionist?

Andrew HN Gray

Craiglea Drive

Edinburgh