Russell’s SNP bluster is fooling no one - your views

Intro

Russell’s bluster is fooling no one

Mike Russell is clearly desperate, issuing his meaningless '11 points’ which are precisely not the ‘road map’ to a referendum that he claims.

They are a detour around SNP aspirations, ending at a blank wall of failure to achieve a referendum in the face of well-merited intransigence from the UK government.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Woodrow Wilson’s '14 Points’ in 1918 had a lot more substance, but, as SNP President, Russell had to produce something to gee up the SNP troops ahead of their national assembly.

Distracting attention from the farce the Salmond Inquiry has become, with witnesses free to withhold crucial information and the administration free to withhold or heavily redact documentation, was also a motive.

Another motive was distracting attention from the poor start the Scottish administration has made in rolling out the vaccination programme, to say nothing of the disaster of the Queensferry Crossing.

As was trying to restrain at the assembly itself those like Angus MacNeil MP and Chris McEleny, whose more radical approach is not favoured by the SNP leadership but commands support from many in the rank and file.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The SNP can crow about still leading in the polls, but the hard truth is that the most recent two have seen support for Scexit declining, while, as Sir John Curtice said, ‘Pessimists about what independence would mean financially still outnumber optimists in Scotland’.

That, of course, is scarcely surprising, since leaving the UK would be much to Scots’ detriment.

Mr Russell’s '11 point plan’ didn’t make the slightest attempt to address that issue, since the SNP leadership knows it was, is and always will be a loser for them.

Jill Stephenson, Glenlockhart Valley, Edinburgh.

Shop politeness works both ways

I certainly agree that nobody has the right to assault a shop worker or anyone else, but situations can arise in the course of a normal day that become heated ("Law protecting shop staff hailed as groundbreaking”, News, January 21).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Have you ever booked a taxi that did not turn up? Have you ever ordered a bowl of soup that was cold? Has the grocery store ever mixed up your order? I would make my feelings known. I am on the autistic spectrum and got confused with the one way system in a shop. A member of staff screamed at me like a naughty schoolboy and was not understanding when I tried to explain. Similarly I am exempt from wearing a mask but have encountered rudeness by shop staff. Sadly not all staff are angels.

It is often the manner in which something is dealt with that determines the outcome. I once worked in a cemetery and a mourner was upset that an ornament had gone missing. I said I was sorry and took them to our office where they could log the details.

I could have taken another approach and told the mourner he had no business placing an ornament as the rules state flowers only. Of these two approaches which do readers think would make the mourner more angry?

Nobody deserves to be assaulted, but angry customers will always be par for the course.

Alastair Macintyre, Rosyth.

Boris misses the point

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The UK government said the issue of Scottish independence had been settled decisively in 2014. Yes, and if they hadn't dragged us out of Europe we would have been OK with that. The whole thing started as a bad joke by Boris Johnson and even he didn't mean it to go this far. Circumstances have totally changed since 2014. Don't they know that?

Jenny Martin, Dudley Avenue, Edinburgh.