State of politics in UK is being reduced to Bullingdon Club tactics

Their media have been screaming that the Supreme Court decision represents some sort of Remainer conspiracy to stop Brexit. A moment’s application of logic exposes this as the diversionary trick it is.

The court was not trying to stop Brexit as such, only stop Johnson’s bid to achieve it by any means fair or foul. The referendum represents democracy in action, yes, but so does the legitimate work of parliament, and that’s what Johnson was trying to prevent. The rejection of Johnson and the Tories’ purely self-serving and tactical “invitation” to bring about a

no-confidence vote and a General Election was only to prevent a No-Deal disaster, a legitimate aim of normal politics. So is debate about what kind of Brexit, even no Brexit. If only referendums represented democracy in action, we would have to have a referendum about every little thing.

The court was not trying to take over the job of ruling from the government, only passing judgment on a particular question of law, and the Tories know it, whatever childish misrepresentation they need to employ. Their childishness is dangerous, too. Johnson seems to be preparing the ground on which he can behave like Putin. Add his appalling legitimising of violence towards MPs if Brexit doesn’t “get done”, and we have UK politics reduced to the Bullingdon Club.
Ian McQueen
Dumfries

THE unfitness of the Westminster System to govern this “precious union” is plain to see . The leadership of the Labour party is unfit to perform its purpose. The Liberal Democrats are, as is their habit, “all things to all men”, waiting in the wings to see which way the wind will blow. No adequate comment can be made regarding the Tory party!

Also plain to acknowledge is the fact that any future administration of the present UK will not be influenced by Scotland`s parliamentary appointees, even though the inevitable General Election would likely see the disappearance of the “Scottish” Tory baker`s dozen and an increase in our 35. Judging by the past and most recent history of Westminster it is inevitable that Scotland will be subjected to any policy suited quite understandably to England, quite irrespective of our support or not, in other words the status quo. Even to the most committed Union lover that must be, on the evidence of Westminster performance, unacceptable to the wishes and aspirations of all the Scottish people. The only way out of the morass to guarantee escape therefrom is – and it really is the only option, given the obvious refusal of fairness from Westminster – independence.

The very latest rant of Mr Gove that Scots are in the grip of sectarian motivations is frankly unworthy of any serious politician but regrettably is entirely to be expected from him. His motivations speak for themselves!
J Hamilton
Bearsden

THE Supreme Court judgment confirmed that the English Parliament is sovereign in England, not the monarchy or the prime minister. They would then have to confirm that the Scottish people are sovereign in Scotland, not the English Parliament. This was agreed in 1689 and put in The Treaty of the Union of Parliaments.
William Purves
Galashiels

JOHN Drummond’s article of September 22 catches the public mood and focuses on the need to prepare our own written constitution (Everyone is saying the British constitution is bust...). He concludes, however: “One would only hope that after watching this shambles unfold, the Scottish Government would immediately announce plans for a written constitution for Scotland.”

I agree the intent, but query if what politicians on their own would deliver could meet the overall needs and aspirations of the people of Scotland. Too often we have seen that elements within political parties tend to put their own needs before those of the general public.

Q: “Do we want a democracy that gives the power of an absolute monarch to one party, or a government which is proportionally representative and can work responsively and responsibly to deal with the issues facing the country?”

In a modern democracy, a constitution suitable for the majority is not written by political or academic or financial elites but by the citizens to whom the “establishment” is accountable.

Regardless of political persuasion, EVERYONE who would seek to live in a more equitable and democratic society is invited to collectively collaborate in a project to have your say and vote securely on the content of a written constitution.

Such a project has now been initiated by a non-party-aligned charity titled Constitution for Scotland. The charity has been set up to raise the funds for an interactive public consultation on the content of a written constitution. Its website – constitutionforscotland.scot – and Facebook page tell you all about getting involved and having your say in the project.

Following the interactive public consultation it is proposed that the results would be put to a National Convention then promoted for legislation at Holyrood.
Robert Ingram
Chair, Constitution for Scotland

MAYBE it is time to accept the Queen as a figurehead without a constitutional role. For the monarchists it can be seen as protecting her from unscrupulous politicians.

Do we then need a president?

It’s certainly time the UK and Northern Ireland had a written constitution to prevent a recurrence of the debacle of the last few weeks where the Prime Minister acts as a dictator who is above the law. But I’m not confident the present government has the ability to tackle something as important as this.

They’ve been incapable of telling the EU what they want to see in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement apart from not wanting the “backstop” the EU require in order to honour the Good Friday Agreement and maintain their secure border for the movement of goods and people. What chance is there that they have either the will or the intellect to apply to drafting a constitution?

Thank goodness Scotland has other options. Come the day!
Catriona Grigg
Embo

THIS week in the House of Commons shows that Johnson has never deviated from his ruthless ambition – the domination of the house. Other MPs had their genius for peaceful debate, reason and honesty of purpose challenged by this megalomaniac, and it will go down in history as a betrayal of decency. Never before in history have we faced the future with such fear and trepidation. However, our SNP MPs will face the future with a clear conscience. We must face the issue clearly. It must be kept in mind that Johnson has all the cunning of his unscrupulous policy. Hope for the best, and our (Scottish) independence is now paramount.
Bill Munnoch
Falkirk

FIRST Minister’s Questions on Thursday heard the harrowing topic of poverty and welfare cuts being raised. The First Minister laid out the effects to the chamber and they were shocking. 8500 Scottish families have had their incomes cut by the Westminster Government’s two-child benefit cap policy and the current general benefit cap is affecting more than 3000 Scottish households. £500 million in cuts to the welfare budget are having serious effects on so many working and non-working families and costing the Scottish Government in excess of £100m in mitigating measures.

In light of those tragic figures and the fact that only 15% of welfare spend in Scotland has been devolved, it was encouraging to hear the First Minister call for full welfare powers to be devolved to Scotland. This is a must for the vulnerable and needy in our society and to assist in tackling child poverty. The Scottish Government has set dignity, fairness and respect at the heart of Social Security Scotland, something we should all embrace.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk

YET again Richard Leonard makes a fool of himself with his self-made contradictory questions. This time he wants to change the indyref2 question to make it more transparent and so better understood. Anymore transparency and the whole question will become so invisible not even Leonard will actually understand the question. However, as Nicola Sturgeon states, the original independence question was quite easily understood, so much so that Leonard’s Unionist pals actually won the day with it. Leonard has obviously forgotten all trace of that piece of important information. A week is a long time for our Richard, let alone what happened in 2014.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife

I READ with great excitement all the talk in your columns and readers’ letters of the inevitable indyref2 and the certainty of an independent Scotland. My problem is, who is going to sanction a Section 30 order? The Tories absolutely won’t, irrespective of who their leader may be, and Labour are cool on the subject. “They cannot ignore the will of the Scottish people” I hear quoted often. “Aye they can,” and they will, as they have done for a long time. “A week is a long time in politics” is another commonly used term. My fear here is that when the Brexit debacle is finally settled, Westminster will return and carry on as normal as it did after the expenses scandal, and the SNP will once again be a mere annoyance sniping away, begging cap in hand for another referendum and being ignored.as they have been for the last three years.

Also, I feel the SNP need to be much more proactive in promoting the positive benefits of an independent Scotland. They need to show clearly the financial case. Right now much of England see us as scroungers receiving massive handouts. Many Scots believe we cannot survive on our own. I have a passionate longing for Scotland to be a nation again, but we will need more than utopian dreams to persuade a majority of Scots to go for independence. Please, SNP, give us some positive outline on how you see an independent Scotland moving forward and becoming a prosperous nation. No airy fairy stuff. Just hard facts. Currency, employment, economy etc. Get your message out there. I want to be able to say to the doubters “this is how it will be”.
Eric Morris
Crail

THE Papers on BBC1 made for very interesting viewing. Watching the two programmes it struck me that The National is in rather a unique position. Having emerged from the aftermath of the 2014 referendum and being the only Scottish daily that supports independence, it in effect feels to me as if I have a personal stake in the paper, and that all of us who buy it in print and online are a community and maybe even a family.

Thank you all for the tireless effort that the small team at the National and Sunday National put in, and I look forward to reading your output in an independent Scotland.
Jon Southerington
Deerness, Orkney