Dear Sir Tom – do us all a favour and bin the gong

Sir Tom goes on to state that the latest honours list must surely be the last nail in the coffin of the House of Lords.We have heard that one many times before. The honours system, including the House of Lords, will continue for as long as people continue to participate in it.

Sir Tom might do us all a favour by handing back his gong and, if others were to follow his example, then perhaps that would hasten the last nail in the coffin of a corrupt system.
Dennis Canavan, Bannockburn.

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There can be no King of Scotland

ON July 5, King Charles III of England, the only regnal title he can legitimately hold, will pay us a “royal visit” to “view the Honours of Scotland”.

The UK Government and the Palace are desperate that this visit not be viewed as a “second Coronation”, because it would demolish the myth that there is a “King of the United Kingdom”.

The event will try to convey that King Charles III of England is already King of Scotland, but he can’t be for two reasons.

First, there has never been nor can there be a “King of Scotland” because the People, not a monarch, are sovereign. That’s why Scottish monarchs were kings and queens of Scots, not Scotland. Second, Charles III can’t become King of Scots without taking the Scottish Oath, referenced in the 1689 Claim of Right and required by Scots law for a legitimate monarch.

That oath binds him to uphold and never transfer or undermine the rights, rents and privileges of the Scottish Crown, which is very different from the English Crown. The Scottish Crown represents the sovereignty of the People of Scotland. Rather than the People swearing fealty to Charles as under the English Crown, he must swear it to the People.

That’s a problem for England, because it’s currently looting our territorial assets in right of the English Crown, as though it had grabbed the Crown of Scotland along with everything else it got through its treaty. But it didn’t.

So, Charles is stuck between a rock and a hard place: take the oath and expose the looting for what it is, or go on pretending to be King of Scots in defiance of Scots law as ratified in the condition for the Union, the Claim of Right.
Lean Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh.

Read more: Sir Tom Devine: Boris Johnson's honours list tarnishes my knighthood

A lesson for all politicians

I READ with interest, and a little scepticism, the article by Mark Smith about the upcoming by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West ("Rutherglen factor that may prove key to beating the SNP", The Herald, June 12).

I thought, oh dear, not another outsider telling us what they think we need. The politicians and would-be politicians are already doing that.

Mr Smith omits the most important fact. Everything changed for the Rutherglen constituency when it was redrawn to include Hamilton West in 2005. Until then, apart from the 1950s when I was born and there was a Conservative MP, we have always been represented by Labour at Westminster until Margaret Ferrier won the seat. A yellow wall? I don't think so.

There is a danger that folk are confusing or being deliberately confused by politicians from the main parties in that this is an election for Westminster, not for Holyrood, so why would independence be the main issue influencing their votes?

While our people – and I am Rutherglen born and bred over the generations – queue up at food banks that are seeing record numbers, struggle to get NHS treatment and GP appointments and key workers in schools and public services are striking for better wages and conditions, these parties are not speaking to us, the people. Even their leaflets – not that I have received one yet – are snapping at one another. For the first time in my life – and I was a lifelong Labour supporter – I do not want to vote for any of them.

We need someone who represents us because they have listened to us and know what we need from them. What we do not need is them telling us. We need them to represent us, not themselves or their party They work for us. Time for some humility.

I don't think the SNP vote will fall as dramatically as predicted because we are lumped in now with Hamilton West. Had we been the Rutherglen constituency we historically always were, we would never have had an SNP MP but always a Labour one.

Being angry at Margaret Ferrier is not enough. Putting up as the SNP candidate a young woman who is already a local councillor and who states on her social media she wants to use the pronouns "she/her" is not a recipe for success. Nor is selecting a candidate to represent Labour which resulted in the local party branch making an official complaint.

We have been inundated with the top brass of Labour – Sir Keir Starmer, Anas Sarwar, Jackie Baillie – folk we have never seen here before and will doubtless never see again.
All politicians and aspiring politicians have only one lesson to learn and only one thing to do. Be mindful of the honour of being chosen to represent your fellow citizens and fight for their needs and wants and aspirations, not your own. Have some fire in your belly, some reforming zeal and remember it is not about you, it is about our people.
Dorothy Connor, Rutherglen.

Read more: The Rutherglen formula is key to beating the SNP

Government too focused on GDP
I AM concerned that the continued focus on GDP growth by the Scottish Government, as set out by Neil Gray, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy yesterday ("A new approach to growing Scotland’s economy", The Herald, June 14, will set the Scottish Government up to fail in its mission to create a Wellbeing Economy.

The Wellbeing Economy is a clear set of principles designed by a worldwide collective of economists, academics and NGOs. In Scotland 115 civil society organisations, businesses and unions have articulated their vision for an economy that is in service of delivering good lives for all on a healthy planet. One of the core pillars of this is to prioritise fairness, sustainability and good livelihoods over GDP growth.

GDP simply measures any kind of economic activity. It doesn’t distinguish between those kinds of economic growth and business models that enhance our quality of life and those that create harm.

The Scottish Government has to start making those distinctions if it wants to solve the immense challenges we are facing, from climate breakdown and the cost of living crisis to worsening health inequalities.

The Business Purpose Commission suggests that the purpose of business is to “find profitable solutions to the problems of people and planet, not to profit from creating problems for either”. There are win-win opportunities where tackling the problems of our time could spark profitable solutions and business growth.

And there are lots of purposeful and democratic businesses that are already embodying Wellbeing Economy principles, such as social enterprises, cooperatives and employee-owned businesses.

But creating a Wellbeing Economy will also require actions that enhance the wellbeing of people and planet but that reduce GDP growth and business profits derived from exacerbating current problems.

Scotland has the resources, creativity and wealth needed to create an economy that improves our collective wellbeing. As the Cabinet Secretary highlights, the Scottish Government already has many of the ingredients to make it a reality, whether that is in Community Wealth Building, the Wellbeing Economy Monitor, or the work of the Business Purpose and Just Transition Commissions. Now it needs the courage to leave GDP behind and take the bold actions needed.
Dr Lukas Bunse, Policy and Engagement Lead, Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland, Kinlochleven.

Was this a different Guy?
I ASSUME that today’s Guy Stenhouse column ("Politicians must do all they can to champion young people’s needs", The Herald, June 15) was written by a ghostwriter with left-wing views unlike those of Mr Stenhouse himself.  

For once, your centre or left-leaning audience could agree with the view expressed that the young should be given more tax breaks than old people like myself and Mr Stenhouse. 
Sam Craig, Glasgow.