IN relation to this curious story that John Swinney urged Nicola Sturgeon to be careful about having a fresh referendum just after Brexit ("Swinney reveals reservations about Sturgeon’s post-Brexit indyref strategy", heraldscotland, September 8), there is no doubt that the morning after the Brexit vote was the best opportunity the SNP ever had, and it will be a long time before the stars align quite so well again.

In that moment, the SNP was at its strongest, and the UK Government was at its weakest, without a leader and in disarray. If Ms Sturgeon had called a referendum that coming August or September, she would probably have got the international backing she needed to swipe aside the legalities, and the politics of the moment would have won through. As a pro-UK campaigner at the time, I can tell you that we would have struggled to counter that, but after four of five days without any solid intent, the moment was gone.

There is no question that Bruce or Wallace would have gone for it. We can be certain about that. The fact that she did not means that Ms Sturgeon was never really a nationalist leader of any great standing or ability. She hesitated and lost everything, including her own reputation. That that nice Mr Swinney was cautious as well and did not recognise the moment means that he too was never the leader his party would like to hope that he is now. He is simply there to manage the decline, the best that the SNP can now hope for. But then, most of his party members will already know that. Bring on a Scottish election now and put an end to the charade. The rest of us need to move on and put this nonsense behind us.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy.

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Clarion call is now pitiful bleating

PROFESSOR Gregor Gall joins the bald men fighting over a comb in his article discussing the independence movement’s future strategy.("Indy push must be a social movement", The Herald, September 12). There is absolutely no point in the existence of secessionist political parties or social movements advocating independence for Scotland while there is still no economic argument for leaving the UK.

Scotland’s fiscal deficit increased this year to over 10% of GDP and the trade deficit continues to be unsustainable according to the SNP Government’s own figures. Combined with the ineptitude of the utterly incompetent SNP Government ministers, the former clarion call for independence is reduced to pitiful bleating from a shrinking flock of deluded flag-wavers.

James Quinn, Lanark.

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SNP must tackle drink problem

AS parts of the media focus on Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond squabbling on TV, blaming one another for each other's failings, the struggling SNP and their failure to break up the UK (and seemingly anything else that springs to mind), we learn that Scottish alcohol-related deaths tragically have reached a 15-year high ("Alcohol deaths in Scotland reach highest level in 15 years", heraldscotland, September 10).

Jenni Minto, the SNP's Public Health Minister naturally is as regretful as the rest of us and reels of a brief list of what the nationalists are supposedly doing about it, which is principally to put up the price of alcohol and investing in more alcohol treatment services. I don't know if this is the right or wrong course of action. Do they need to be adopting these policies more aggressively? Or are they the wrong policies?

Whatever Ms Minto is doing now isn't working. Just like with drugs death rates, alcohol death rates continue to be higher in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK: the trend here has continued on an upwards trajectory pretty much continuously since the SNP came to power in 2007. Surely, it's imperative, if fewer lives in the future are to be lost, that the SNP gets its act together, and fast, to tackle this deep-rooted and tragic problem.

Martin Redfern, Melrose.

• ALCOHOL deaths in Scotland up as well as drug deaths. The SNP's approach to both of these issues is diametrically opposite. With alcohol the SNP keeps upping the price in the vain hope of stemming the tide. Contrast this with drugs deaths, where the SNP approach is to allow small amounts for personal use and even organising "safe" consumption rooms. This is not working and it just sums up the SNP's grip on these problems: non-existent.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

Westminster's litany of failure

HAVING Read Guy Stenhouse’s latest assault on the SNP government ("The response of the SNP to Scottish voters: we will just shout louder", The Herald, September 6), I wonder if the opening items on this Monday’s Sky News (September 9) might have given him cause for reflection? It was a litany of disasters that just added to the general mood of despair and disillusion with the current mess that we are in.

The programme started with a report that the English NHS was "in decline". This was followed by an item about Baroness Kate Lampard’s inquiry into mental health services in Essex that had led to more than 2,000 deaths. Then it was the Great Ormond Street Hospital launching an urgent review into the cases of 721 children treated by one of their surgeons. It seems that, as a result of his operations, many patients had suffered life-changing injuries including amputations, permanent deformities and chronic pain. Next was a new review of anti-social behaviour in England which found that over 60 per cent of victims of persistent anti-social behaviour said they still face unresolved issues despite reporting the behaviour to the police, a council or a housing association.

These depressing reports come against the backdrop of years of appalling Westminster failings. Austerity, a cost of living crisis, under-siege food banks; Brexit, the years of chronic underfunding of our essential public services with dire consequences for our schools, hospitals, prisons, the police, welfare services and the imbalance of the wealthy south -east of the country compared to the rest of the UK. A broken immigration service coupled with the chronic failures of privatisation of our utilities resulting in soaring costs and a worsening service. Then there is the scandal of our energy prices, particularly for Scotland, with the highest connection and standing charges despite being a net exporter of energy to the rest of the UK. Add in the consequences of the blood contamination disaster with over 30,000 NHS patients being given infected blood; the scandalous findings of the Grenfell Inquiry and the shocking revelations of the Horizon Post Office scandal, then, despite its failings, the Scottish Government appears almost saintly by comparison with Westminster’s record.

Finally, Neil Mackay’s excellent article in today’s edition (“Message to the rich: pull your weight or just leave”, The Herald, September 10) describes another scandal, namely the ease with which the wealthiest of our citizens can wave two fingers at HMRC and move their money abroad to avoid taxation. It seems that while Keir Starmer has the courage to remove the winter fuel allowance from thousands of pensioners, he is not brave enough to impose taxes on the assets held by the rich.

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

What's to be done about Scotland's alcohol problem?What's to be done about Scotland's alcohol problem? (Image: PA)

Taking pride

MARK Smith ("I never thought I’d say this: I am not proud to be British", The Herald, September 6) tells us he’s not proud to be British as is his right. He seems to base this on his understanding of various parts of our history that are questionable at best.

Being “proud” of anything is a sin according to some. Personally I take great pride in my family’s achievements and the fact they’ve all turned out to be decent, hard-working people. I take great pride in doing a good job for whoever is paying me. I take great pride in the fact that in this UK of ours people can say they’re not proud to be British and not be taken away by the secret police.

In today's society the irony of Mark's article is quite interesting. We have people declaring how proud they are of their sexual persuasion, their race, their religion and so on, as is their right.

Being proud to be British has become twisted by so many saying it’s a support or love of the so-called far right. We have even had the preposterous suggestion that our country's flag could be offensive. Is there any other country in the world where their own flag would be deemed offensive? All of this is mainly nonsense and in my case not only nonsense but deeply offensive.

The far right and the far left are extremists and in the minority. They have always existed in a free society and always will. So in answer to Mark let me say I am proud to be British, I’m proud to be Scottish and proud of of the freedom we enjoy yet often take for granted.

John Gilligan, Ayr.