Letters: Corbyn will not rescue the UK from the Tories

Despite the daily fallouts over Brexit, the illegal bombing of Syria, the breast cancer scan mistakes in NHS England, the Windrush fiasco, lives lost at Grenfell, the massive rise in food banks (connected to austerity and especially Universal Credit), the WASPI women cheated out of their pensions – despite all this and more, courtesy of a Tory government clawing onto power via a dodgy deal with the DUP, Labour can’t make a breakthrough in the English local elections.

Only one or two of the above political failures should have been enough to consign Theresa May and her Tory government to the political dustbin. However, as the official opposition in Westminster which refuses to oppose Tory policies, the Labour party is in turmoil. The Blairites will blame the Corbynistas and the Corbynistas will blame the Blairites and all the while the Tories implement whatever policy they wish.

Of course many of us realise the answer to escaping Tory policies doesn’t lie with Corbyn or the British Labour Party. After all he is a British Nationalist in the same mould as their previous leaders. He may want different social policies but these will be paid for by Scottish oil revenues, and he’s the peace-loving party leader who voted to keep nuclear weapons on the Clyde.

If we want real change we have to demand it. It won’t come from any of the British parties, it will only come from campaigning for independence. So let’s start converting a few more of the Corbyn supporters who will hopefully now see the light and that he will not deliver us from Tory policies. Only we can do that by campaigning to have our own, independent Scottish Parliament.

Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley

THE Scotland/rUK Brexit discussions have at last delivered a definable outcome. The British separatists have now effectively stated that after Great Britain separates from Europe it will only take seven years for a sufficient reduction in standards, regulations, and rights to take place across the whole of Great Britain.

I never gave much credence to the notion that 18 months was sufficient to redefine and improve the technical, financial and political relationship between Scotland and the rGB. I thought it would be more like a decade to get the task substantively done, so seven years seems to be wishful thinking even if based upon simply scrapping the current rights, regulation, and obligations developed within Europe over the last 40 years.

I suspect that no more than two 20 per cent devaluations of the Great British pound would be sufficient to significantly extend Great Britain’s international trade beyond current levels, and to rebuild the currently fully integrated trade with Europe.

As oil is denominated in dollars, Scotland will of course then be even more essential to the rGB, which the British separatists well know, and they would soon morph back into Unionists.

These separatists see no contradiction in holding on to their Scotland and leaving Europe, as they have the certainty that the only way is British, as only a sound Tory would see it. I am not convinced by that approach, and not being a Tory separatist myself I look forward to indyref2 to redefine Scotland’s relationship with rGB, and to improve Scotland’s links with the other peoples of Europe.

Stephen Tingle
Greater Glasgow

YOUR lead letter from “Name and address supplied” (May 4) threw cold water on Tommy Sheppard’s idea of engaging local activism by way of SNP local branches. The writer admits to having been to only one branch meeting and seems to think that members should be able to participate from the comfort of their own homes without the inconvenience of actually engaging, without arguing for changes which I’m sure are necessary – and which indeed are happening in many SNP branches. We haven’t got time to reinvent the wheel: the one we have can certainly be made to work better. Be the change! Get out there and do something! Don’t snipe from the sidelines!

Derek Ball
Bearsden

ANDREW Tickell’s excellent exposé of the “Scottish” Labour party’s obsession with always attacking the SNP is eye-opening (Scottish Labour have put Nat-bashing ahead of standing up for Scotland’s Parliament, May 4). However, he does not get to the question of why. Why, when the venal Tory party is attempting to rip up the devolution arrangement (which Labour set up and promised to defend in the infamous Vow), are Labour turning all their fire toward the SNP?

The answer is simple: peerages. Many Labour party hacks have come to rely on the patronage of the taxpayer and the party to fund their employment opportunities. This class of town-hall bureaucrat usually has zero ability and a massive sense of entitlement. After a lifetime of service to cronyism they view their “reward” as a £300 per day seat for life in the Lords.

They initially set Holyrood up to be another talking shop and rigged the voting system in order to ensure a permanent Unionist majority. Holyrood was never supposed to be governed by the SNP.

This system of patronisation is threatened by independence. This is why the loudest opponents of a second independence referendum are peers of no consequence such as George Foulkes, Michael Forsyth, Michelle Mone and John Reid. They fear the end of the gravy-train.

Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee

I WAS outraged to read in the press that the bad SNP had hatched a plan to burn babies in boxes. Are there no limits to the disgraceful actions of this bad political party?

R Mill Irving
Gifford, East Lothian