A game changer at last: Findlay will revive the Tories

The end of 14 years of Tory rule can strangely enough create a revival for the Tories north of the Border. Russell Findlay is the very man to take advantage.

Could we finally be seeing a more common sense approach to politics being taken in Scotland, one that chimes in with what the public actually wants for a change? The 2026 Holyrood election just got a whole lot more interesting.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

• SO the Scottish Tories have a new “continuity” leader, in a fractious contest marked by open splits. Russell Findlay was the continuity candidate of the shadowy figures who actually run the party and this puppet-picking has been going on since Ruth Davidson was parachuted into Holyrood (2011) then elected as leader (2011), and it has led to many Tories questioning a process which leads to identikit nonentities gaining advancement.

This party managerialism has led to many Tory members leaving the ever-shrinking party. Mr Findlay will no doubt follow the usual trite formula (tax cuts, London knows best), but he inherits a split party with zero autonomy and little genuine talent. His immediate problem is from the political far right and how he will address it will be interesting, given his new boss in London will also be of the political far right, with obsessions which many in Scotland might regard as “petty” and irrelevant. But Tories think Scottish opinions don’t really count, which is why they are where they are.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

Read more letters

Why on earth is Anas Sarwar given such an easy ride?

Why do we have to go straight from summer to Christmas?

A poor show for Paisley

BY the time this letter is published the auction, and sale, of important pieces from the Paisley Art Institute (PAI) collection will be a fait accompli ("Paisley painting sells for more than £500k as part of £1m fundraiser", heraldscotland, September 27).

The PAI was established in 1876 by a group of artists who had been collecting work since 1904 and who have enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Paisley Museum since then up until recently. This meant that the people of Paisley could enjoy the foresight of the artists who started the collection by viewing art they would otherwise have been forced to travel to see. A recent spat between the museum and the PAI has resulted in the PAI removing the collection from Paisley and the people of Paisley and exhibiting it in the Glasgow Art Club, premises rarely visited by members of the general public.

The present PAI high heid yins will say that it is their collection and they can do what they like with it, but is it? What was the original intention of the founding artists, was it for the benefit of the people of Paisley? What about the many gifts given and willed to the Institute as representatives of the people of Paisley? Why this sale, with this group and why now? Your article from earlier this week ("Paisley Art Institute collection to be auctioned off to raise £1m", The Herald, September 24) suggests a couple of reasons: to secure PAI's future and to secure two parts of the collection which includes work by living artists by selling some of the historic collection. So, up for auction were, for example, Paisley Lawn Tennis Club by John Lavery, work by Cadell, Guthrie, Henry and many others to secure, again for example, cartoons painted by the present President? These auctioned paintings will disappear into private collections and my grandson will be denied the privilege I enjoyed of seeing them when I was young, all because the present PAI office-bearers fell out with the Paisley Museum. These people are here for but a season but have taken something very precious away from the people of Paisley.

Fortunately Made in Paisley (and others in the town) based directly opposite the Paisley Museum are building an interest in art and artists (particularly youngsters) rather than destroying it. Their exhibition are well attended but not by those with a glass of cheap, tepid white wine in their hands wearing cravats.

Ian Ramsden, Paisley.

Lament for Sunset Song country

THE Scottish Government’s disastrous decision to allow the Glendye wind farm on Aberdeenshire’s glorious, scenic Cairn o’ Mount road is now leading to even more destruction of our landscapes, cultural heritage and sacred places.

Despite valiant efforts, huge opposition and cogent arguments from local authorities, it was given the nod by a remote and uncaring central belt SNP Government.

We now have to suffer the ignominy of giant pylons being forced through by the developers, SSE, all the way to Stonehaven. (the sham of "consultation" events are now being advertised).

This will totally destroy the iconic “Pass in the Grampians”, lovingly described in Nan Shepherd’s quartet of novels. Having known Nan, I can confirm she would have been absolutely horrified. During her final years at Annesley House in Torphins, Nan was consoled that she could still see her favourite "spiritual" mountain, distinctive Clachnaben, now about to be ruined by giant industrial turbines just below.

The Mearns landscapes of Scotland’s favourite novel, Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song will also be trashed forever.

Montrose artist James Morrison’s glorious landscape paintings will never look the same. Their sweeping magnificence and vast horizons are now being destroyed by bristling pylons and giant, rotating cash machines on every horizon. What on earth are we doing?

Isn’t it high time we actually started saving the planet?

George Herraghty, Lhanbryde.

Derailed by poor management

WE are forever told that life is ever more complex and that the threats to our society are also complex, as in the recent BBC TV drama The Nightsleeper about a cyber attack on an overnight train. The unglamorous reality however is that the cancelling of trains on Thursday between Glasgow Central and London Euston was due to something as mundane as a big tree falling on the West Coast Main Line between Dumfries and Moffat overnight.

Anyone with eyes can see vegetation overhanging the railways (sometimes so bad that trains scrape it) and notice that if it falls in high wind (surely predictable in Scotland) it will knock out critical national infrastructure; yet it appears to be beyond the wit of Network Rail and the Department for Transport to cut it back.

As for train operator response, time was they would put on road coaches and get you to your destination, somehow. Now instead their advice is to try again tomorrow; no use if you have business, as I did in Glasgow. On the first train of the day from Carlisle, stopped at Lockerbie, the guard's eventual advice was to return to Carlisle and go via Newcastle. A one-minute internet search told me to take two buses and arrive in Glasgow at 10.55am, "only" two hours late. Presumably a tree will have to kill passengers for actual action.

Mark Rowe, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

Hit drivers where it hurts

I READ your report headed "Road deaths increased over summer despite campaigns to tackle speeding" (The Herald, September 27) with dismay. The only campaign that will reduce speeding and other unlawful behaviour on our roads is one that hits errant drivers where it hurts. Any driver found guilty of a serious road traffic offence should have their licence confiscated and it should only be returned to them once they have taken, at their own expense, a full driving test, and passed it.

Such action will raise money for the public coffers rather than wasting it on adverts and the like that are ignored.

Patricia Fort, Glasgow.

Choose a trusted news brand

THIS week the global news industry has been running a "Choose Truth" campaign, with over 100 countries, hundreds of news organisations, media associations, and individuals highlighting the importance of fact-based journalism.

It has been building up to World News Day today in which publishers and editors hope to encourage their audiences to continue supporting trusted news brands, like the one you are reading now.

In an increasingly fractured communications landscape and a breakneck pace of change which will only accelerate in the new era of artificial intelligence, the importance of, and need for, trusted, reliable information will only increase.

Of course, in such an intense and ever-changing environment, mistakes do happen. But through fast, fair and free regulation, like the Independent Press Standards Organisation and the Advertising Standards Authority, speedy recognition and resolution of problems - far quicker than the courts - is an essential part of a media ecosystem on which the public can rely.

More people derive information from social media than ever before, but not for nothing is it known as a communications Wild West because of overseas-owned platforms’ refusal to subject themselves to reasonable regulation.

But rather than an arid, sparsely populated plain, it is a jungle in which dangers are hard to spot in the dense undergrowth of misinformation.

We know many people access reliable news sources through social media, but all too often the platforms’ sudden, unannounced algorithm changes can cut off readers from trusted sources.

Social media platforms often claim to be facilitators of free expression, but on too many occasions they prove to be an inhibitor, with users often unreasonably blocked or banned altogether for reasons which are hard to fathom.

The only way through the thicket is with reliable news brands and we also know from independent research that consumers do come back to recognised news operations locally and nationally to verify information they may doubt.

But if those brands are no longer there, where will those people go? It is vital for the health of open, democratic societies that trusted brands with high visibility remain to help people through the social media jungle.

The news industry is nothing without its readers, listeners and viewers, and you can do your bit to make sure this title remains a trusted guide by continuing to read and subscribe.

John McLellan, Director, Newsbrands Scotland, Edinburgh.

Should errant drivers be forced to take a new driving test? (Image: Getty)

Brontë let down

I HAVE noted with concern that many writers now use superlatives when comparatives would be correct such as "the eldest of two children" but in your article about Janey Godley ("'I got to do everything I wanted to do': Godley's poignant words", The Herald, September 27) the reverse problem is illustrated as the opening paragraph refers to "the latter" after a list of three items.

You also have a story and picture about the addition of diaereses to a memorial in Westminster Abbey ("Accent dots in Bronte surname added to sisters’ memorial after 85 years", The Herald, September 27) but do not yourself use this symbol where it would be appropriate in the accompanying text.

Hamish Scott, Bearsden.

Lesson learned?

I NOTE your headline on Page 6 today, "Schofield appointed as Glasgow University principal". I assume this means that Phillip's rehabilitation is now complete?

Ian Ramsden, Paisley.