Readers' letters: SNP's ex-MPs will want tickets for the next gravy train

It is now widely recognised that the SNP's talent puddle at Holyrood is at least partly responsible for the lack of planning and poor governance we have witnessed there. The SNP’s problem is that, with a very few notable exceptions, the vanquished from Westminster are not much better. The toe-curling embarrassment of public utterances by Anum Qaisar, Steven Bonnar and David Linden, to name but three, confirm that such people are not fit to be members of either chamber. There are others besides – too many to name and some still in post.

But now Joanna Cherry is free to aim for Holyrood, if her extremely blunt comments about the SNP’s former leadership do not disqualify her in her party’s eyes (Scotsman, July 15). A hastily passed SNP rule prevented her from standing for Holyrood in 2021 without first resigning her seat at Westminster. Whether Stephen Flynn will fall foul of the same rule or whether it will now be rescinded remains to be seen. It will be difficult for him to have a tilt at the party’s leadership if he does not have a seat at Holyrood.

One thing is sure: there will be an intense contest for Holyrood nominations between SNP Holyrood incumbents and those ejected from Westminster, both for constituency seats and for top places on lists. Retailers will have to ensure that popcorn stocks are at a high level.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Starting over

Former nationalist MP, Joanna Cherry, commented over the weekend that another ousted nationalist, Stewart McDonald, shares her view that “... we must rebuild the SNP’s reputation for competence and integrity”.

It would be interesting to know exactly what Ms Cherry defines as “competence and integrity”. As a keen observer of politics north of the border I do not know of any instances whatsoever of these qualities being shown by the SNP administrations in the many years they have had in office. Not a single example comes to mind, much the opposite in fact.

Rather than rebuilding a reputation, the SNP would have to start from scratch and establish one.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Puerile humour

I have heard the responses of those who think it is “funny” to fly the flag of whoever is playing against England. It is funny at the same level of maturity as my five year-old granddaughter’s sense of humour.

Although I am far from being a footer fan, when there was last an international football competition, I explained slowly to a disbelieving group of Weegies I met in Ibiza that I was supporting England in the same way that English people would support Scotland if their own team had dropped out and ours remained in the running. It was clear that they simply could not understand this, such was their innate hostility to the English at DNA level.

When I see people flying the flag of England’s opponents alongside a Scottish saltire, I know what those people are like: they represent Scotland’s shame. They can’t (or won’t) see it. They claim to oppose Brexit, and yet the EU is designed to prevent the very sentiments they express openly and proudly. For Europe’s sake, I think it’s best that we voted to leave. Such people have no place in an organisation designed to defeat such hatred of neighbouring nations.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Why the fuss?

I still remember my English-born but Scotland-bred cousin coming into room when England had just made it out the group stage at a tournament and wondering who they played next.

When I told her that it was Germany she said she hoped that they would beat England – and Germany duly obliged.

The media hype and the prospect of hearing about 1966 and all that foster this antipathy towards the England national football team.

Scotland in football terms is a separate country from England and their supporters should be allowed the freedom to support England, anybody but England, or indeed any other team of their choosing.

We don’t have the same rubbish about Aston Villa/Birmingham City, Greenock Morton/St Mirren ot Heart of Midlothian/Hibernian. What makes England different?

Peter Ovenstone, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire

Winners and losers

Stephen Flynn, SNP Commons leader of the rump of SNP MPs, will be thrilled that England lost in the Euros final.

He is a high-profile exponent of the Anyone But England mindset and has been forced to support team after team after team against England until eventually stumbling upon a winner.

However, most of us who voted for pro-UK parties in the general election will be equally – or perhaps more – delighted that he led his party to electoral disaster. Oh, well, Stephen, you win some, you lose some, eh?

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Scottish Borders

Better goals

The Euros are over and attacking football, fortunately, won. Both England and Scotland need to reflect on their respective performances. England were as dull as ditchwater and cannot be allowed to be the future face of football. Enterprise and excitement has to be part of the game. They are not even the best team in England but they are certainly the most boring.

Before we can crow, Scotland were by far the worst at the tournament, which begs the question: “How are we going to respond?”

There are many ways we could reorganise to make our game more exciting and competitive but I suspect the ‘blazers’ at the SFA and SPFL will be more keen to reorganise the desks than worry about our game. If we don’t make real changes that might influence our football then we have to accept that we are perpetuals minnows.

Let’s be bold and take inspiration from Georgia and Austria and play football that excites, if not wins. The SNP always want us to be better than England. On the football field that shouldn’t be hard.

Ken Currie, Edinburgh

Garbled message

In the days before the General Election, Sir Keir Starmer ridiculed John Swinney, who had advised Scotland needed to send a message when we voted.

The Labour leader suggested we didn’t need to send a message; in contrast we needed to send Scottish Labour MPs into government.

Yet only Ian Murray is in the Cabinet.

John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife

Power bills

On 13 July Brian Wilson’s article was headed “Green energy gold rush could bring real Industrial Revolution”. Yesterday under the headline “Scots ‘could get cheapest energy in Europe’”, Greg Jackson, the founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, is quoted as suggesting this would happen “if we had regional pricing in the UK for electricity”.

These two articles are important because Brian Wilson concludes that “realism is now the prerequisite for addressing the challenges that are infinitely more complex and urgent than has so far been admitted". Greg Jackson has a single simple solution which will lower the price of electricity.

I agreed with Sir Keir Starmer when he said that transparency was needed in society. How can this be achieved in the electricity industry? The National Grid is a private company which will not provide the public with the wholesale price of electricity from the various sources of power from the private generating companies because of commercial confidentiality. If these prices were known to the public it may transform our understanding of whether renewable or nuclear energy was an economic way forward.

When the electricity industry was nationalised up until 1990 there was complete transparency and the price of electricity in Britain was the lowest in history.

Charles Scott, Edinburgh

Attlee’s charisma

It won’t do to accuse me of belittling the achievement of Attlee’s government in setting up the NHS (Jack Kellet, Letters, July 13), even if it built on preexisting state-funded health services, like the successful Highlands and Islands Medical Service, set up in 1913. I have worked in the United States and seen patients waiting at the hospital reception to show their insurance documents before being considered for admission.

As for Attlee opening the money taps, in a broadcast on the eve of the inauguration of the NHS he said that “in view of the economic difficulties facing the country the health service will take time to develop. A full service would only become available when our present shortages have been overtaken”. Expenditure restraint continued; I declare an interest in that one of my daughters was born at the Vale of Leven Hospital. It opened in 1955 and was the first new hospital to be built in Scotland. It was a Civil Defence project and wasn’t funded by the NHS.

Attlee may have been a good after-lunch speaker, as typified by the rhyme he wrote about himself:

Few though he was even a starter

There were those who thought themselves smarter

But he ended PM

C.H. and O.M

An earl and a knight of the garter.

As for charisma, however, he was no Boris Johnson, or even Alex Salmond.

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

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