Letter: View ruined by Gray clouds of negativity

LABOUR'S Scottish leader Iain Gray protested: "The SNP is trying to make the election into something of a personality contest because they've got nothing else left. They have a track record of broken promises and there is little support for independence" (News, 24 October).

Shame he provides no justification for such bald statements. This SNP Government has delivered on 77 of the 94 promises it made. Others, such as scrapping Edinburgh's misguided tram project, have been wilfully frustrated by Labour under Mr Gray's leadership.

That "leadership" consists of rubbishing not just Scotland's independence but its neighbours too. ("Ireland's economy is on the brink of collapse and teetering on the edge"; "an independent Scotland could not have coped with the banking crisis, given that Scottish banks were significantly larger than Ireland's") Such remarks echo ex-Secretary of State Jim Murphy: "Ireland is part of an 'arc of insolvency' along with Norway and Iceland". They don't get out much these two, do they?

Regarding your report on the Legatum Institute's 2010 Prosperity Index of 110 countries. The index for each is compiled from eight weighted sub-indices, with the UK coming 93rd in future expectations, 98th in optimism and 101st in public confidence. Given Labour's corrosive negativity anent ambition, can such shocking results be surprising?

Is Mr Gray apologetic that Ireland, hard hit by recession, managed 11th ahead of Britain's 13th place? Or Mr Murphy, thirled to use Scotland's resources to prop up England and his own pretensions there, that Norway (1st) ranks ahead of former union master, Sweden (8th)? The world wonders.

Politicians who conduct pivotal debates in ill-informed, self-serving terms do so at their peril. All Scots need to debate Scotland's future prosperity. But by demeaning our neighbours? By fixating on negatives?

After two years at his party's helm, Mr Gray still struggles to articulate any aspiration upon which, together, we could set our sights. Is John Swinney right? Can we afford to stay in this Union, especially one with leaders like Gray and Murphy?

David Berry, North Berwick