YOU have to keep your wits about you if you are following the Scottish political scene. It’s often hard to tell what counts and what doesn’t in the Unionist definition of democracy. Last week was a case in point.

Ruth Davidson cited No-Deal Brexit as one of the reasons for her sudden and immediate abandonment of the Ruth Davidson Party, but she will continue to seek to deny the Scottish electorate permission to disengage from No-Deal Brexit should we choose to do so. It seems that our democratically won right to choose an alternative future just doesn’t count.

Then there are her eager successors. As they vie with each other for their branch office tiara, rumours are circulating about a possible break from the London party. A break, dare I say, to form an independent Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party! But the democratic drivers which cause these hungry wannabes to consider their independence in our case apparently just don’t count.

Not to be outdone – and, it would seem, keen to fill Davidson’s legendary independence flip-flopping stance – up steps Jeremy Corbyn. As he stares into the hurt and hostile eyes of Scottish Labour, up close and personal, the Labour Party leader abandons his two-week-long support for Scottish democracy to “now is not the time”. So he learned something from Theresa May!

He then, and in all honesty this is what I found hardest to stomach, takes to the stage in George Square (Glasgow) to pontificate on Westminster’s democratic rights.

In each of these cases we see politicians keen to exercise and protect their own, personal, democratic authority. For the electorate of Remain and mandated-indyref2 Scotland, what about our rights? These politicians couldn’t care less. As they see it, our rights just don’t count.

I Easton
Glasgow

EMMA Ritch could have chosen many examples to show gender inequality in the political arena, but choosing Ruth Davidson’s resignation citing the pressures on family life must surely be the most specious.

Ruth Davidson clearly resigned because she backed the wrong political horse. Her flip-flopping politics have finally been called out. Politically she’s going nowhere, the prospects of advancing her career over, despite the ludicrous notion of a switch to high office at Westminster.

She’s peaked as far as holding office is concerned, but who would doubt that by holding onto her Central Edinburgh seat at Holyrood, should the political wind in the party change direction – and Boris blow it as spectacularly as we suspect he is going to – Davidson will pop up again like a demented Jacqueline in the box and her family problems will disappear, no doubt excused by her “answering the call”.

As for the gender inequality in this case, Davidson is no different to any other parent who has to make life choices: which parent provides, and which parent provides the care. Her partner could have chosen to be the mum to provide the care. This situation was something they had to be aware of when they planned to have the child. The same as the rest of us, they made their choice; nothing to do with being in a same-sex relationship doesn’t make it so.

Hasn’t Davidson done women, and parents in general, no favours by seeking to mask her political failure with maternity issues?

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh

AS the crisis in Westminster deepens, the disintegrating United Kingdom has lost one of its most strident supporters in Ruth Davidson. Apparently resigning for family reasons, her obvious distaste of Boris Johnson and his gang was undoubtedly a factor.

Boris, the jovial democratic assassin, has effectively and apparently legally shut down Westminster and could conceivably shut down Holyrood, scrapping the constitutionally binding 1997 Devolution Agreement.

This smiling bold gambler must be met by a positive bold statement of intent from the Scottish Government. The SNP-led government, with its built-in mandate and now with more than 50% of the popular vote, must act soon and lead Scotland to independence.

Commenting on Ruth Davidson’s resignation and the prorogation of the UK parliament, Nicola Sturgeon wished her well and added pointedly “if you can’t work with Boris Johnson, Ruth, why should Scotland?” She then went on to say: “Today is the day that independence became completely inevitable”.

Grant Frazer
Newtonmore

I TOTALLY concur with Dan Wood’s long letter in Sunday’s National regarding the resignation of Ruth Davidson. He predicted that the now “Ruthless” Scottish Tory branch’s emerging leader (whoever it will be) will surely be a “lachie” blindly following every dictate from head office, thus making the Scottish Conservatives like their English right-wing counterparts. Yes, you’ve got it ... even more “Ruthless”! Boom! Boom!

Robin MacLean
Fort Augustus