AM I the only one becoming uneasy about the chorus of both contributors and letter-writers, whether orchestrated or not, against those who dare to deviate from the tenets of the faithful, which now seem to be carved on tablets of stone?

They claim that voting SNP for list candidates is not a wasted vote when the party has obtained virtually a clean sweep of constituencies in that region. Could you please commission a reputable statistician to show the percentage of the vote needed to obtain a list seat in those circumstances? I think it to be eyewatering. Wasting these second votes, as I did last time, does help the total vote share of the party. Could they be used to get a more useful result?

What is to be done when, despite how large a majority, Westminster continues to say no? Some may think that they have a conscience and will eventually do the right thing. We are dealing with a ruthless bunch which is deliberately reshaping the British state as a rogue state and have as little interest in allowing Scottish self-determination as the Chinese one has of allowing it in Tibet.

Lastly, disquiet at the centralisation of power at the top, seemingly exploited by individuals in their own interest. Members of the NEC who disqualify MPs from standing at Holyrood, shortly after express interest in filling the same vacancies.

I have known and respected Andy Doig, the current execrated heretic, for a good few years. There are points on which will probably never agree, such as the EU. I will never fail to admire his years of work and substantial achievements striving for independence.

While I certainly agree that the SNP is by far the only reasonable choice to secure independence, like all human institutions it is capable of losing its way. I take the critics to be pleading the rest of us to thoroughly check our maps to make sure that we aren’t going up an attractive dead end.

David Rowe

Beith