WELL, that’s it in! My first ever postal vote!

I have to say I swithered a bit. For the last several Holyrood elections I have voted SNP 1, Greens 2. But there’s a wee bit of a problem here. First our FM is telling us that she will give us a referendum after the pandemic is over. And the Greens are telling us they will give us one during the duration of this parliament.

Let’s consider the pandemic part first. We are at the point where everyone over 50, plus those with health problems, will already have had or will be about to get their first jab, and many will already have had their second jab. The remainder of the population will all have had at least their first jab by mid-July. One can fairly safely assume that by October all will have had both jabs – and that should be the pandemic over. Except, Professor Jason Leitch has already told us that we may well all need to get an annual booster jab, just like the flu jab.

READ MORE: Labour leaders 'out of touch' as poll shows their voters back indyref2

So, can we look forward to an independence referendum before the end of this year, or will we be told that we will have to wait until all the booster jabs have been done?

If you stop and think about it, we had to wait until we found out what was happening with Brexit. Then, when it went against us, we had to wait again while efforts were made to get us a deal similar to what Northern Ireland got. That didn’t work. Then along came the pandemic and that has already given us a further year’s delay with at least another six months to go before it’s out of the way. Will it next be the economy that has to be fixed before we can have a referendum? I find myself asking, “Who needs Theresa May to tell us ‘now is not the time’ when our own First Minister is doing exactly that?”

The Greens are telling us they will definitely have a referendum within five years. Quite honestly, that’s not soon enough. AUOB and all the Yes groups around the country have been working hard on drumming up support for indyref2. Before lockdown I took part in street stalls advancing the cause of an independent Scotland. It has been ongoing remotely all over the country as can be seen from the many items in The National telling us all about it. Keep putting them off and enthusiasm will drain away.

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Besides which, any further delay will just perpetuate the damage caused by Brexit and allow Boris to introduce more laws to stop us being able to hold any referendum without his permission, which is not going to be forthcoming. I think Alex Salmond’s idea of gaining a “supermajority” and then asking Boris immediately to enter into independence negotiations on day one of the new parliament is the right way to go about it.

Unfortunately, Alba is not putting up constituency candidates this time round; and polling expert John Curtice’s analysis of the latest poll, showing a continued majority supporting independence, tells me that Alba is unlikely to win a list seat in this area. Thus, I felt that my second vote to them would be a wasted vote. Therefore, it was “hold my nose time” and do the same as I’ve done before – SNP 1 Greens 2.

But be warned, SNP and the Greens! I am hoping that Alba do get a few seats. Professor Curtice reckons they will get five. If they do and we are not an independent country by the time the next Holyrood election comes round, I expect they will put up candidates in all areas and in both the constituency and the list seats. If they do, they will get both my votes! So, come on First Minister, Let’s get independence sorted as soon as the new Scottish Parliament re-convenes.

Charlie Kerr
Glenrothes

WELL said, George Kerevan. His article on how Alba could be the key link to driving independence forward is essential reading for anyone wondering how we are going to make independence happen (Why something needs to change in our politics and the push for indy, April 19).

There is too much of a cosy consensus in Scottish politics – the Tories constantly berate the SNP for talking only about independence, but that simply masks that the SNP is the party which talks least about independence in Scotland. Occasionally we’ll get the odd leadership lackey promising a referendum soon – just to quieten the troops – only for them to be put back in their box when the First Minister tells us we won’t have one until Covid has been wiped out.

READ MORE: George Kerevan: Alba show something needs to change in our push for indy

It’s difficult to say this as a formed member of the SNP, but the party isn’t moving for independence anytime soon. I suspect we’ll have another parliamentary term without a referendum, just the usual promises followed by excuses. The SNP has done absolutely nothing to promote independence in the last seven years, so why start now and risk the cushy jobs for the boys (and girls) in Westminster and Holyrood?

I’ll hold my nose and vote SNP in the constituency but I’ll be backing Alba on the list in the hope that they will give the independence campaign the boot up the arse it so richly deserves.

Willie Bruce
Stirling

BBC Scotland were up to their tricks on Monday morning’s phone-in. As well as Kaye Adams more than once suggesting that the campaign was dull and uninteresting, political correspondent Andrew Kerr also commented that although many more of the electorate have postal votes, most voters will still vote in person at their local polling station. He then went on to suggest that if there are queues of people waiting to vote, many voters will not bother to vote and will walk past.

This sort of suggestion, which if repeated enough times, will turn into a self-fulfilling prophesy, will ultimately play into the hands of Boris Johnson. He will be looking for any excuse to deny Scotland its democratic right to decide its future, and a low turnout is one of these excuses. Please get out and vote – Scotland’s future is at stake.

Alan Laing
Paisley