ANDY Maciver points out the detailed survey by Redfield and Wilton Strategies which shows "a decline in Labour's favourability and an increase in that of the SNP" ("Labour may be winning over the red wall but SNP’S yellow bricks stand strong", The Herald, June 9) . This should not come as a surprise; voters have long memories, which for many will stretch back to the decades when Labour dominated Scotland and took Scottish votes for granted, and that was topped up in 2014 when Labour campaigned alongside the Tories against Scottish independence.

Then there is the EU; Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain but that decision was ignored by Tory prime ministers and Sir Keir Starmer has made it clear that he'll ignore it too.

However, I would suggest that what really sticks in the craw of many former Labour voters is the situation as pointed out by a past leader Johann Lamont, that so-called "Scottish" Labour is nothing more than a branch office of London Labour. Until Labour in Scotland cuts the apron strings which binds it to Westminster it can never be taken seriously. The former Labour MSP Neil Findlay didn't pull his punches when describing life in Scottish Labour ("Every day was like trench warfare in Scottish Labour", The Herald, June 5); Gordon Brown's latest party piece won't cut it with most Scots who view Mr Brown as something to be found in a museum, and I doubt if Mr Maciver's suggestion that Anas Sarwar should have a conversation with Lord McConnell, (aka Jack McConnell) will help either. The clue is in the title; a failed Labour politician packed off to the notoriously expensive, unelected, House of Lords.

The SNP's yellow bricks are standing strong, because voters know that the SNP will always stand strongly for Scotland.

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

• ANDY Maciver offers unvarnished truths. Yes, Labour could do itself a favour by actually addressing the constitutional logjam that bedevils Scotland, but even if it did, could it be believed?

Sir Keir Starmer rips up previous commitments with gay abandon; Rachel Reeves was also at it on the Today programme ("Labour backtrack on £28bn green investment plan amid economic fears", heraldscotland, June 9). What would each UK political “block” settle for?

Scotland seems to have gone from a “loose” European Union to one more akin to the rigorous centrist autocracy of the old Soviet Bloc – within the UK. Mr Maciver references the Coalition Avenir Quebec as a model for Labour, and I could be tempted by offers of a “Canadian-style confederation”, where responsibilities are negotiated then legally entrenched in a partnership of equals. The fly in that ointment is that the Tories would never go for a weakening of Westminster’s archaic notion of sovereignty and I suspect neither would Labour.

If we want Scotland to have more than a now-subordinate legal jurisdiction stuck in a powerless legislature, then independence is the only game in town.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

Read more: What hope is there for Holyrood when mantra is 'do as you're told'?

CalMac can't fix this problem

THE ferry crisis is down to the increasing age of the CalMac fleet. Calling on the First Minister to act is understandable but he doesn't have a magic wand, there are no obvious instant solutions and asking urgently "that CalMac review its route prioritisation matrix" ("Minister orders Calmac rethink after major ferry service protest", The Herald, June 8) is simply shifting the problem elsewhere with no obvious island with comparable alternative access.

Sandy Slater (Letters, June 7) states that "CalMac and the Government have been negligent in not programming replacements to the fleet". But CalMac no longer owns nor procures the vessels, so is not responsible for programming replacements. The answer to where the responsibility lies can be found on the Transport Scotland website, which states: "Transport Scotland's Ferries Unit is responsible for overarching ferries policy, the procurement of the Public Service Contracts, contract management of these contracts and policy on future vessel and infrastructure investment.

"Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) is a public body wholly owned by Scottish ministers. It owns the ferries, ports and harbours and infrastructure necessary for vital ferry services serving the West coast of Scotland and the Clyde Estuary. It procures and owns the vessels."

Transport Scotland published a ferries plan including replacing two vessels by 2016, four more by 2019 and another six by 2025 but all of those listed are still in service. Covid and the Ferguson problems have contributed but there is another factor. From its establishment, CalMac accounts included vessel depreciation charges based on useful service lives of 20 years. In the ferries plan Transport Scotland adopted a policy of replacing vessels at 30 years. There is neither indication of the data supporting this decision nor of ministerial approval. CMAL in its annual report for 2015/16 stated: "The directors reassessed the useful economic lives of the vessels up to a maximum of 35 years. This has a consequence of reducing the annual depreciation charge by £8,476,000." The resulting reduction in annual replacement vessels will add savings in capital expenditure. Perhaps it's coincidence that these decisions followed Audit Scotland's criticism of the cost of the supported services.

The downside of these economies is evident. Audit Scotland identified a massive increase of 136% in maintenance costs; reliability has decreased with serious implications for island communities.

The ferries plan is being replaced with an Island Connectivity Plan, due last year but it is still a work in progress. In the meantime, they have prepared a long-term plan for vessels and ports in draft form for consultation. It aims to reduce the average age of the fleet to around 15 years by 2030 but the plan is still based on a 30-year vessel life (para 63). It is planned to add a "resilience" (backup) vessel by retaining one of the replaced vessels but this will always be over 30 years old and, with no replacements for major vessels in phase 3 and only two to be replaced in the 10-year phase 4, the life of these backup vessels will have to be extended well beyond 30 years.

John Whittle, Carluke.

Read more: We must loosen Holyrood's grip on rural Scotland before it's too late

Lost chance for shipbuilding

I READ with dismay David Hay's letter (June 8) headed “The UK’s own shipping fiasco”. As a retired Master Mariner who enjoyed 44 years' service in the Merchant Navy I completely understand the writer's dismay with the current MoD build programme.

Shipbuilding generally, as with so many traditional British industries, has declined to a point of no return. This is particularly so with regard to merchant vessels. I will not even mention Ferguson Marine of Port Glasgow.

At a time when governments focus on reducing the reliance on fossil fuels, we import through foreign merchant vessels the parts required for wind farm installations both onshore and offshore.

The UK Government has made little or no attempt to capitalise on this blossoming industry either through fabrication or importing using UK-owned/flagged vessels. An article in the Ayrshire Post last week informed readers of the import through ABP Port of Ayr harbour on foreign vessels of wind farm installation parts for wind farms near Kirkoswald.

There is clearly little benefit for the UK economy or the Merchant Navy. At this point I envisage a deluge of letters inquiring as to what UK Merchant Navy I refer to. The answer is of course that we have “missed the boat”.

Fabrication plants and related maritime vessels should have been established at the infancy of wind power.

Is it too late? The readership will already know the answer to this; meanwhile government staggers on blindly.

Kenneth Ireland, Ayr.

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• AS someone brought up on a small island (Bute), I recall that there was widespread criticism and blame for any problems with the ferry service. Some of it was actually unfair, but nevertheless it was 100% directed at Caledonian MacBrayne. No one blamed the government.

Yet now, it's the biggest stick to beat the SNP with in the Union-supporting correspondent's armoury.

Can I suggest that those correspondents actually concentrate on reasons whether Scotland should or should not be independent and stop with these boring and tedious irrelevances?

Iain Cope, Glasgow.

America is winning

WHILST our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is at pains to remind the American President, Joe Biden, that "over generations we have fought alongside one another" ("Free Trade talk gone as Sunak and Biden cut a deal", The Herald June 9), it is useful to remind ourselves that on at least two occasions it was against one another – The War of Independence against the British from 1775 to 1783 and the conflict with the UK in 1812.

Our latest battle for a trade deal with the US would appear to be a win for the American side.

David G Will, Milngavie.