WE were promised change. We were promised a different way of doing politics. We were promised respect. Sir Keir Starmer's spiteful withdrawal of the whip from seven of his MPs demonstrated that nothing has changed, politics is no different under Labour than it was under the Tories, and respect is non-existent after barely three weeks of Sir Keir's premiership ("MPs vote against SNP amendment on two-child benefit cap", heraldscotland, July 23).

All credit to the seven principled Labour MPS who voted with their conscience and backed the SNP amendment. All shame on the entire contingent of Scotland's Labour MPs who didn't. Ominously for Sir Keir, there are many other Labour MPs who felt compelled to take the whip - this time - and who probably had a sleepless night as a consequence.

Sir Keir's summer of change and so-called honeymoon has fizzled out into a one-night stand.The new Prime Minister has revealed himself in his true colours. Tory blue.

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

Where is Anas Sarwar?

THE writing was on the wall when Michael Shanks won a by-election promising to stand up for Scottish interests at Westminster yet almost immediately betrayed the majority of Scots in not backing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. No matter what sound bites the chief of the Scottish branch office contrives to dupe the Scottish public with, the truth is that Scottish Labour MPs will obey Sir Keir.

Only seven Labour MPs had the personal integrity to vote in favour of the SNP motion to prioritise scrapping the policy that sustains the rape clause, and regrettably not one of them was a Scottish MP. Only one Scottish Labour MP did not vote against the SNP amendment to the King’s Speech aimed at scrapping the two-child benefit cap, and that MP effectively abstained.

In the meantime “whaur’s Anas?” is the cry as the branch office chief, not renowned for being camera-shy, appears to have gone into hiding in spite of his seeming compulsion to seize every opportunity to arrogantly spout vacuous statements to anyone within listening distance, never mind Labour Party acolytes eager to attempt to justify often-misleading criticisms of the Scottish Government. When Mr Sarwar is finally tracked down by one of the large team of intrepid Reporting Scotland journalists hopefully he will be pushed to meaningfully answer the pivotal question “what is the purpose of Scottish Labour”?

The people of Scotland do not want to hear more clever sound bites: they want child poverty to be eradicated now, not perhaps in 10 years’ time by the end of a second term of a Labour Government at Westminster.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

READ MORE: Thank you, Stephen Flynn for giving Keir Starmer the chance he needed

READ MORE: There can be nothing civic about nationalism

Touch challenge for Yvette Cooper

THE Labour Government has taken the Bibby Stockholm, which housed illegal immigrants, out of service. It has cancelled the Rwanda option for removing illegals, it intends to reduce and stop the use of hotels for the migrants, and it plans to fast-track asylum’ claims. At the same time as these grand plans are announced the illegals are still daily arriving in the hundreds.

I don’t know if Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has a magic wand, but if not she’s got a few monumental tasks on her hands.

Ian Balloch, Grangemouth.

Roll on May 7, 2026

WE have all seen the recent demise of the SNP at Westminster. Do we really need to wait for another 70 weeks to see the party also disappear from the political scene at Holyrood? John Swinney may be some sort of optimist, but any positive thoughts he may have about remaining in office after the Scottish elections in 2026 are totally misguided.

The original Scottish Executive established by Labour/Liberal politicians in 1999 might have proved to be a successful regional form of administration but for the rise of Scottish nationalism after its inception.

We Scots have borne witness to this northerly part of the UK becoming weaker economically, industrially, structurally and most emphatically at local government level. This can only be attributed to the misguided policies of the SNP administration at Holyrood.

Hopefully May 7, 2026 will be a day when Scotland sees off the SNP's cause ad infinitum, and we folks to the north of the so-called border return to political normality.

Robert IG Scott, Ceres, Fife.

Desecration of the landscape

TODAY'S lead article ("Labour energy firm 'to wade into local planning disputes'", The Herald, July 25) follows my (aborted due to breakdown) drive yesterday to my hometown of Langholm for the annual Common Riding. Following my usual practice I left the M74 at Lesmahagow and joined the old A74, now B7606, for a less stressful journey, allowing me to take in the scenery.

Over recent years I have noticed the ever-growing number of wind generators starting in South Lanarkshire and continuing for around 20 miles into Dumfriesshire but was staggered by the scale now evident. They are literally spread from horizon to horizon over every hillside in the whole area, completely dominating the countryside.

I have no illusions about my knowledge of the financial implications of these beasts, but common sense tells me there must be a huge effect on the carbon footprint, ranging from the cost of building the generators, constructing the road infrastructure which connects each of them and which must be able to bear the weight of the generators and the trucks transporting them to site, plus payments to various landowners. As their life expectancy is around 25 years it is difficult to imagine that the benefits can outweigh these costs plus that of replacing them. Much of the income generated in construction of course goes to other countries.

While I can appreciate the inherent risks in nuclear generation the benefits to my mind outweigh these of wind generation and the desecration of the landscape is appalling.

James Graham, Clydebank.

• SO Labour is attempting to portray nuclear power as green. Who'd have thought that?

I cut my eco-teeth 40 years ago when Torness was under construction. The key problem remains: what to do with the lethal waste? If the Romans had had nukes two millennia ago, we'd still have to be guarding some of their long-lived isotopes.

Those who wittingly consume nuclear electricity should be required to keep their very own casket of the muck at home, preferably under their bed. That should cut the birthrate nicely.

George Morton, Rosyth.

A strange set of news values

I'M sure I can't have been the only one to have been somewhat mystified by the running order for the lead items on Wednesday evening's edition of BBC's Six O'Clock News (July 24). While the mistreatment of the horse by Olympian Charlotte Dujardin shown on the film was terrible and distressing, can this honestly be of greater concern than the violence displayed by a police officer in attempting to restrain a suspect at Manchester Airport that same day ("Concern over police conduct on video", The Herald, July 25)?

Charlotte DujardinCharlotte Dujardin (Image: PA)

I think it's fair to say that the majority of the population will have little idea of who Charlotte Dujardin actually is and there will be very few who show any enthusiasm for dressage, save when interest peaks slightly during coverage of the Olympics. Other than that, dressage is not something that troubles the back pages of our newspapers too often.

There is greater public disquiet, however, about what appears to be a continuing decline in standards of conduct in police forces across the UK. Sadly, this is something which has generated significant front page headlines for a number of years now. From cases involving Sarah Everard to Sheku Bayoh, there is widespread public concern about a never-ending stream of reports of this nature. The shocking images of the incident at Manchester Airport where a police officer is seen to kick and stamp on the head of a man while on the ground is one such case in point, yet it was not considered important or significant enough to be the lead item on the evening news.

What must the defining criteria have been at that editorial meeting that saw fit to place this item second in the running order behind images of the whipping of a horse several years ago?

Cruelty to animals is to be abhorred in any society that would describe itself as civilised. This cannot, however, be given greater precedence over any cruelty endured by members of that society in their dealings with the police or any other public body. I had hoped that the BBC 's flagship news programme might have had the sense to realise that.

Andy Crichton, Ladybank.