FOR several years now I have been asking why Tory support seems so solid in Dumfries & Galloway and the Borders.
There are several reasons that I can think of, the first being that much of the area is owned by the Earl of Stair, The Duke of Buccleuch and the Duke of Roxburghshire.
A couple of other factors have not been addressed by any Scottish Government in the past 30-odd years since I came from England to live in Scotland.
Did you know the Head Post Office for Dumfries & Galloway is in Carlisle? If I post a letter in Dumfries, the postmark shows “Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway”. Does any other region of Scotland have their Head Post Office in another country? Fellow nationalists further north were, of course, stunned and confused when they heard of it.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's challenge to Labour: Back indy or tolerate Tories
Another relevant factor which is infuriating and quite unfair to citizens here in Dumfries & Galloway is that south of Sanquhar and down to the Solway, the only independent TV news we can receive is that from Border TV, Carlisle. Because of “broadcasting licence issues” we cannot receive STV – again this has been ongoing for more than 30 years.
This means that for those who rely on television for their news, both local and “regional”, the coverage of events from Kendal, Carlisle and Cockermouth has greater priority than news from Dumfries & Galloway!
Just last year an “initiative” was launched to afford extra monies for Dumfries & Galloway, this was in conjunction with the UK Government and we were referred to as Borderlands – not Scottish, not English. Borderlands!
To say I was raging was an understatement. Does anyone in other parts of Scotland know about this? Is this really acceptable?
If I were being cynical I would say that the lack of will to correct these situations shows that successive Scottish governments have been happy to ignore Dumfries & Galloway. We need to make sure that these issues are cleared up and this area is included and treated as part of Scotland, not an add-on of Northern England.
In 1997, in this region, the then Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Lang was ousted by the SNP. The whole of Scotland was Tory-free. If voters in Dumfries & Galloway get the impression they are not really a “proper” part of Scotland then it’s little wonder they continue to support parties other than the SNP.
Doreen Moran
Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway
I WOULD like to endorse Isobel Lindsay’s sentiments in Tuesday’s National, when she writes: “Just about everyone knows that the Growth Commission has to be buried and the sooner the better. It will drag the movement down and it is only lingering on for face-saving reasons”.
To that I would like to add, “And that applies to GERS figures as well”. The government brings no credit to itself by quoting these ludicrous and inexact figures as if they had any real meaning. Once the independence impetus gets under way, we will need sensible information to counter the lies and misinformation that will be thrown at us in buckets full.
READ MORE: Letters, December 17
My own answer to questions on the doorstep is to be honest and say that nobody knows the fiscal state of an independent Scotland, but with all of our natural wealth, there is no reason why we shouldn’t equal the performance of any of the other small Northern countries. The reason that our standard of living is below their can only be the Dead Hand of Westminster, because that is the only difference between us.
Should anyone doubt that Dead Hand, may I suggest that you watch Renegade Inc’s programme British Bankers Financial Crisis on RT? The full duplicity and dishonesty of the banking industry is shown in all its hideous glory.
Tony Perridge
Inverness
I CONCUR with your recent contributor (December 17) with regards civil disobedience and those who have now retired. Although I don’t necessarily consider myself “elderly”, I am retired and have more time to engage politically.
In common with many others, we have had to nurse our radicalism to keep it warm through 40 or more years of working life for the sake of career etc, however as we now enter the end game of the push for our nation’s independence, we are ready and willing to do our bit for the future and the younger generation.
As evidenced by the number of “older” people taking part in independence marches and political activism during the recent Westminster election, I’d suggest that there is a grey (and baldy) army out there who’d be prepared to stand up and be counted. Most are entirely law-abiding citizens with not so much as a parking ticket to their name, and with many owning their own homes and with no employer to consider, there is nothing the British state can do to them. The youngsters of Extinction Rebellion may have shown us the way.
Name and address supplied
IS Boris Johnson planning to make a serious offer to give full fiscal powers to the Scottish Government? He has already considered this option in private. In June 2019 Nicola Sturgeon said: “Boris Johnson asked me if full fiscal powers would buy off the SNP”. Such a move could sway a majority in favour of remaining in the UK, making it difficult for Scotland to ever become an independent nation. In return we would have to cede powers over foreign affairs, defence, trade deals and possibly immigration.
As the impasse between the Scottish Government and Westminster over the constitution rumbles on, many in Scotland will become increasingly angry at Westminster’s intransigence, hastening a showdown. If such an offer is made, it could be a major constitutional spanner thrown into the Holyrood works.
Mike Herd
Highland
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