Letters: Don't tar all the decent Tories with the Johnson brush

The present crisis has made public the rift between decent Conservatives and Mr Johnson's cronies in the MEGA Party, and it seems unfair to condemn the former for the actions of latter.

T J Dowds, Cumbernauld.

* I REFER to Jamie Black’s letter (January 14) regarding the weight or otherwise of the Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross.

I agree that he comes across as a lightweight, but he has shown he has a principled moral compass, in complete contrast to our Prime Minister and his Cabinet, which includes Jacob Rees-Mogg, who continue to back Boris Johnson.

Let’s compare the education and background of the two politicians: Douglas Ross, Forres Academy and the Scottish Agricultural College. Jacob Rees-Mogg, Eton and Oxford University. I know which one is closer to the feelings of outrage throughout the country after the revelations of the Downing Street parties.

One of them cares, the other doesn’t.

Willie Towers, Alford.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND US

I ENJOYED Bruce Walker's attempt to seek justification for Boris Johnson and his No 10 colleagues riding roughshod over the rules they had imposed upon the rest of us (Letters, January 14).

I do feel, however, that it is apposite to mention certain facts which Mr Walker omitted. First, during lockdown people were being effectively incarcerated in their own homes and restricted to who could visit their homes. There was nowhere in the UK where you were permitted to have 30 guests whether indoors or outdoors and certainly not a party with dancing which has now been revealed. It was commonplace for police officers to break up any such gatherings and issue fines. If the excuse is that Downing Street is a workplace, I know of no firm which instructed its employees to gather together socially and bring their own alcohol to consume.

Even more relevant is the fact that people could not visit their friends and family in hospital and funerals were not able to be attended by anyone other than close family. How many people are still having nightmares about not being able to see their loved ones before they died and could not have the consolation of friends and family at the ensuing funeral?

Spin it how you may, there is only one conclusion: that Mr Johnson and his Number 10 colleagues believed themselves above the rest of us and that rules did not apply to them. That way lies tyranny.

David Stubley, Prestwick.

* JACOB Rees-Mogg calls Douglas Ross a lightweight and Alister Jack – the invisible man – a significant figure who says that Boris Johnson is doing a fantastic job. Statistics in December showed that there were 13 countries in Europe with lower rates of Covid death per head of population than the UK, most of them with land borders. If Douglas Ross is a lightweight then I would say that Alister Jack is a flyweight.

Michael Kennedy, Newton Mearns.

WHAT ABOUT RISHI SUNAK?

SCOTTISH voters have long seen through Boris Johnson: the welcome given to the Prime Minister on the rare occasions he has visited Scotland speaks for itself, and he was the invisible man at last May's Scottish Parliament elections. Given that Mr Johnson is a heavyweight liability to the Scottish Tories, it is not surprising that Douglas Ross would want to get rid of him and Downing Street's boozy parties have provided him with the perfect excuse. However, while Mr Ross was quick to ditch his boss, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was noticeably slow to back his Downing Street neighbour.

Bruce Walker points out on the Letters Pages that Nos 10 and 11 house the residences of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and that "the entire building has access to the garden". Which rather begs the question; where was Rishi Sunak when the garden parties were going on, and why didn't he do something to stop them?

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

ROWS ARE A HEALTHY SIGN

ONCE again the nationalists seize on any straw in the wind to promote the break-up of the UK. Nicola Sturgeon claims the in-fighting in the Tory Party is a sign that we must leave the Union. Why? Party rows are a sign of a healthy democracy. You see little of this in the SNP, where dissent does not appear to be allowed and if anyone speaks out of turn they are effectively banished.

It speaks volumes that the nationalists cause needs to rely on contrived grievances or rows concerning Westminster and not on its own policies.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

IN DEFENCE OF PRITI PATEL

I FIND it somewhat ironic that Margaret Forbes (Letters, January 14) accuses others of telling lies while at the same time spouting falsehoods herself.

The family of Priti Patel – someone with a more statesman-like manner, better qualifications and more real-work experience than most SNP MPs – moved from India to Uganda, and then came to the UK in the 1960s. As Idi Amin did not come to power until 1971, his appalling dictatorship was years away when her family was welcomed into the UK. As for migrants to be "pushed back into the Channel and left to drown", that is a rather ludicrous and unnecessarily inflammatory exaggeration given Ms Patel's expressed desire was for France to take back those making the needlessly risky crossing and for them better to control the migrant issue there instead of turning a blind eye as they do.

Finally, at least the relevant Conservative donor knew their funds were going towards Boris Johnson's furnishings, and willingly donated on that basis, unlike those SNP donors whose £600,000 simply disappeared from party accounts, never to be seen again.

Steph Johnson, Glasgow.

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES

WELL, now we have it – three vain, self-centred and arrogant men have dominated the news this week in our newspapers, and have proved beyond doubt that they, and their sycophantic followers and advisors, are human after all – if not in the sense of what the majority of us strive to be. Surely my Granny's old adage that "be sure your sins will find you out" has never been more true.

Walter Paul, Glasgow.

THE REAL DIFFERENCE

IN response to Iain McIntyre (Letters, January 14), there is a big difference between allowing someone to die a natural death and assisting someone to commit suicide.

Dennis Canavan, Bannockburn.

FLAW IN THE CROWD ARGUMENT

I READ with interest Graeme McGarry’s article on the resumption of football crowds following the uplift of recent restrictions being delayed until Monday next ("Where is the method in call to delay crowd resumption?", Herald Sport, January 14). While I agree with his argument that the restriction should have been lifted earlier to allow crowds to return this weekend, he particularly referenced the Partick Thistle v Kilmarnock match being played on Friday night and the loss of revenue, but he omitted to mention the fact that the game was being televised live on BBC Scotland.

Interestingly the "Sport on TV" section below his article also failed to include details of the broadcast.

Ian Noble, Lanark.

WHEN ALI MET ALLY

I READ with interest Ian W Thomson's letter (January 13) about Muhammad Ali in Paisley for a boxing exhibition in 1965.

This brought to mind my (and a few thousand others') encounter with "The Greatest" in a Glasgow city centre book shop in 1993, as he signed copies of a book of photographs, which charted, in the most artistic of fashions, his career.

Two things stick in my mind. Apparently Ali was "only" six feet and three inches, but he looked much bigger. In fact he appeared to be the biggest man I had ever seen, and when he clenched his fist at the adoring masses for fun, I was gobsmacked by the size of it, so glad that I hadn't been born George Foreman.

The second unforgettable memory of the moment was seeing footballer Super Ally McCoist posing with Super Ali Muhammad for photographs. Both sporting greats stood with fists placed on each other's chins. The aforesaid mitt of Muhammad Ali looked as big as Super Ally's head (some might wonder that such a thing was possible).

I read some years later that Mr McCoist has a photograph of this moment in pride of place in his living room. Apparently he treasures it. I don't have a photo, but I can still treasure the memory.

Gordon Fisher, Stewarton.

THE BBC AND ITS CUTE WORKERS

WATCHING Prime Minister’s Questions on BBC iPlayer, I find the temptation to throw things at the screen is much reduced if I turn on the subtitles: they are hilarious. Boris Johnson’s “I saw” became in subtitles "eyesore"; Ian Blackford’s recent comment about the threat “Omicron poses to all our people” became "on the con poses taller people".

Last week we had Angela Rayner’s thanks to “key workers” turned into "cute workers", which is rather nice; however, turning “meeting loved ones” into "eating loved ones" was maybe less so. And this week, Mr Blackford accused the Prime Minister of “limping on”, which was rendered as "living in Bonn"; though, agreed, maybe exile should be Boris Johnson’s fate.

A few years ago, the BBC broadcast a great comedy series, W1A, lampooning itself. One of the standing jokes was a rogue subtitling system that turned interviewees’ remarks into outrageous comments. It appears that was no joke, it was in fact accurate. Funny as the output often is, there’s a serious point: many people with hearing difficulties rely on subtitles to follow the speech. The BBC is giving them a weird and inaccurate version of what is actually being said in the House of Commons; surely it can do better.

Doug Maughan, Dunblane.

Read more: Rees-Mogg was right: Douglas Ross is a lightweight