IN his reply to John Black, Jim Lynch (Letters, January 3) mentions that the D’Hondt voting system was used for Holyrood to ensure that the SNP would never have a majority.
As he says though, the people somewhat confounded that notion. That the chosen method was a deliberate anti-nationalist ploy is proven in this extract from Sir Malcolm Bruce’s valedictory Commons speech:
“One of the most important events of my time here was the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. I was very pleased, having been the leader of my party in Scotland at the time, to work with the late Donald Dewar in setting up the framework for what became the Scotland Act 1998, which he and I helped to deliver.
“I had one disagreement with him, however, and I think that the outcome shows that I was right. It was about the voting system. I supported it, as did he in the end, but we had an argument about whether the additional members should be elected on the basis of a second vote or an adjustment of the first vote.
“My view was that we should adjust the first vote, and I think that I was right, because we would not have a Scottish National party majority if we had stuck with that system. Unfortunately, that tells us that we are going to have to address the issue in future.”
Unionist manipulation from the start, and please note the threat contained in the final sentence.
G Foulis
Edinburgh
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