Emily Thornberry is green with envy at the success of the SNP

She is obviously too thick to realise that by saying this, she has insulted most of the Scottish electorate. This woman is nothing short of green with envy at the success of the SNP, as are the politicians from other Unionist parties who hate the success of the SNP. Not one single Unionist BRANCH OFFICE PARTY puts Scotland and its people first, only the SNP do that. They are not fit to tie our First Minister’s shoe laces.

Anne Smart
Milton of Campsie

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A FEW weeks ago Emily Thornberry was walking side by side with Ian Blackford going into the new parliament, and here she is now putting a knife in his back.

Typical Labour sneering jealousy – the SNP have stolen their clothes. According to them Scotland needed no new bridges, hospitals, schools or houses so they sent millions back to Westminster.

The SNP have done more for Scotland in the last 10 years than Labour ever did. Now the English and well as the Scots have seen through their deceit and their empty promises. As someone else said, she has taken the ashes of Labour and cremated them.

Winifred McCartney
Paisley

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LOOKING at the present circumstances in our fight for self-determination, I’d like to make some points.

First I will address the views expressed recently by Jim Sillars. I have no problem with anyone in our movement expressing an opinion, however his have been widely published and admired by the Unionist press and anti-SNP/independence elements. There is an old saying in politics which goes: “If your political enemy is praising and supporting, look in the mirror and ask yourself ‘what foolishness have I been up to?’”

As someone who for more than 50 years has represented working people in my community and at all levels in my trade unions, there are two essentials that must be understood. 1) One’s ego must be relegated to a secondary position, so that judgement and assessment are not clouded. 2) Whatever good works you have achieved in your past, it is what you say and your actions in the present that require careful consideration as to the effect they will generate.

As I write, I don’t know what Nicola Sturgeon’s next move will be after Johnson’s refusal, but my instincts tell me a referendum will not happen this year, although politics are moving with such speed and intensity, who knows. (At the moment I am not inclined towards an illegal referendum or the court route).

I am favourable to the growing view that a resurrected grassroots Yes movement would be positive and that it would be a stronger and more experienced force than 2014, and also that it would take the pressure off the SNP government, that would allow it to focus on the winning of an independence majority (including the Greens) at the next Holyrood election.

Of course an integral part of our movement is undoubtedly the well-organised and positive All Under One Banner demonstrations.

I end with two quotes (the first I think was Ghandi’s): “First they ignore you, then they insult you, then they fight you, then you win your freedom”. The ignoring and insulting is now happening; the form of the fight we have still to see.

The following is from a poem by Bertolt Brecht: “Soft water, by attrition over the years will grind strong rocks away. In other words, that hardness must lose the day.” Appropriate, I feel, for our independence struggle.

Bobby Brennan
Glasgow

I AGREE with the points made by Tony Perridge (Letters, January 25) about Scotland’s currency. The euro may well be a stable currency but ultimately its value and its interest rate will be determined by countries other than Scotland.

If we, in the early years of independence, set up a Scottish National Bank and decide on a Scottish currency, we will be in control of our domestic currency and our interest rate. Being in that position we can protect our currency from financial speculators.We can ensure that our banking system is run carefully, like the old mutual societies. That would prevent the casino banking that almost wrecked major economies in 2008.

Let’s aim for strict financial controls and honest accounting systems. We know that KPMG, the well-known accountants, was fined £4.5 million by the Financial Reporting Council for its auditing of Quindell in 2014. More recently it was fined £2.1m for its poor auditing practices of the retail company Ted Baker. Private banks and accounting systems can set themselves up in Scotland but they will have to abide by Scottish regulations and controls.

We could show best practice in financial transactions and become well known for honesty and probity, putting ourselves beyond the corrupt practices of many current banking systems.

One of the reasons that Germany was not much affected by the financial crash of 2008 was because they still have many mutual banks and co-ops.The people who took a hit were the big banks like Deutsche Bank, which used fractional reserve banking.

We should also be looking at our systems of taxation. Whatever else we do, we should be collecting the taxes of big companies who try to salt away their profits in tax havens. When you look at the tax recovery figures of the Conservative government, they are very modest. Perhaps the Tories are anxious not to embarrass their big business friends!

Personally I find it astonishing that people who support independence would not wish to maximise our annual income for the benefit of all!

Maggie Chetty
Glasgow