Letters: SNP is bent on making nation ungovernable after its inevitable defeat

One is, just like an animal trainer, Nicola Sturgeon needs a few titbits in her pocket to keep her charges interested, such as occasionally waving the "will of parliament" second independence referendum paper, and broadcasting "Davey" videos.

The other is, realising it may well lose the next election the SNP seem to have a "scorched earth" policy that retreating armies use to deny invaders access to infrastructure and resources to slow its advance and provide the possibility of a counter attack.

The SNP version is the dismantling, re-fashioning and acquiring public institutions such as the police, councils, education, health, tax, benefits and EU powers, in ways that will be difficult to roll back. Examples include attempts to browbeat the media and the reduction of a first class, apolitical civil service to a cadre of stressed-out apparatchiks willing to influence reports and slavishly transcribe the basic mental arithmetic mistakes of the Finance Minister into council budgets.

It's a case of "if we can't have it, neither can you" on the assumption that the incoming government will inherit a country so bent and twisted that only those who created the mess can fix it, meaning it might lose the next election but it arrogantly expects the public to ask it back.

The flag furore shows how desperate it now is. A Scottish Parliament term is four years, not five. We need an election in 2020.

It can't go on like this. The SNP is wrecking Scotland.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

IN 2009, Alex Salmond spoke with the Queen about wanting to fly the Lion Rampant in Scotland on various notable dates in the calendar. The next year the change was made and this then became the common practice over the next seven years. But the annual flag flying rules for Scottish government buildings were not updated to reflect the change until 2018. Did the civil servants forget or was there a need to allow time to pass between formalising the change and that conversation in 2009?

Did Mr Salmond perhaps forget to explain to the Queen that agreeing the use of the Lion Rampant would lead to the phasing out of the flying of the Union Flag on all bar Remembrance Day?

Keith Howell,

White Moss, West Linton, Peeblesshire.

In response to flag-gate and to mark Burns Night, a limerick:

A load of piffle, says Salmond of those

From The Mail, Telegraph et al who chose

To claim FM banned

Union Jack from land.

Lying rampant – like Pinocchio's nose.

Peter Callaghan,

41 Park Avenue, Falkirk.

THAT Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work principally blames Brexit for Scotland's recently reported poor economic data is beyond risible ("Scots exports rise in spite of uncertainty", Herald Business, January 25).

I'm no supporter of Brexit but his conclusions are political spin of the poorest kind. Between July and September last year, the Scottish economy grew by 0.2 per cent and the UK economy as a whole by 0.4 per cent. On an annual basis, Scotland is delivering 0.6 per cent growth, the UK 1.7 per cent. Naturally what Mr Brown doesn't attempt to answer is why the Scottish economy should be so severely impacted by Brexit when, apparently, the UK economy isn't, or not nearly so much.

Judging from her recent media interviews, only the naive would expect Nicola Sturgeon not to demand another referendum this autumn. If Mr Brown genuinely seeks tangible reasons why our economy is under-performing, he should consider his party's ceaseless independence referendum threats.

Martin Redfern,

Woodcroft Road, Edinburgh.

DR Gerald Edwards accuses the SNP of applying double standards (Letters, January 24). He claims use of the “rape clause” to demonise the Conservatives and Ruth Davidson while we all know that the Tories’ track record of self-demonisation is second to none. There was only one winner in that debate.

He then attempts to juxtapose your front page headline of January 23 (“Only the most dangerous suspects to be locked up”) to create an illusion that it is now the stated policy of the Scottish Government to bail those accused of rape and domestic abuse when it is quite clear from a reading of the headlined article that is not the case. Not surprisingly the focus of the article is a “legal source” speculating on the potential effects of the new Criminal Justice Act, which, heaven forfend, doesn’t suit the criminal bar. To suggest that this journalistic speculation means that the Scottish Government proposes to randomly bail rapists is risible.

Stuart Chalmers,

St James Avenue, East Kilbride.

I NEVER thought I would be singing Boris Johnson’s praises – but well done Mr Johnson for affirming that NHS hospitals need more money ("Johnson slapped down in NHS cash row", The Herald, January 24). Instead of being reprimanded by the Cabinet, he should be applauded. Anyone would be forgiven for thinking that in the Budget, Philip Hammond gave the NHS money out of the goodness of his heart and his own pocket: “I gave the Health Secretary an extra £6billion.”

My late mother always said: “Charity begins at home”. Our hospitals are in crisis – we need to stop sending money abroad and indirectly funding various terrorist groups. We have tax-paying citizens dying in hospital corridors here, and ambulance people unable to do their jobs because they cannot offload their patients into our hospitals. Will someone other than Boris wake up and smell the coffee!?

Linda FitzGerald,

Dalerb, Craignavie Road, Killin.

WHEN will Britain’s entrenched posh boys drop their “club” mentality?

When will the rest of us get some respite from the elitist, arrogant public school mindset that means there is always some eager-to-please-went-to-the-same-sort-of-school pup ready to come out and defend Boris Johnson’s latest prattle? And it means that despite it being 2018, a cabal of entitled men – despite the #Me Too movement and everything else that has happened in 2017 think it’s ok to use raising money for children as an excuse to behave like privileged pigs (“Men-only event sparks outrage”, The Herald, January 25).

Why do normal rules of decency not apply to those who definitely regard themselves as above everyone else?

Amanda Baker,

Saugthon Gardens, Edinburgh.