THE three-pronged familiar assault on Scottish support for independence is gathering momentum. The Tories now have on board the eager collaboration of Labour and the Liberal Democrats, neither having any realistic policies or denials of the case for our departure from this anachronism called UK, which is to our country a permanent halter around Scottish necks.

Kirsty Wark’s joint pursuit of Alex Salmond with Sarah Smith is a disreputable attack upon Scotland’s increasing support of independence, which is on course for achievement by the SNP, disguised as a further attempt to denigrate our previous First Minister, and by association Nicola Sturgeon.

READ MORE: If Alex Salmond can face retrial by BBC TV, why stop there?

It will be recalled that Kirsty Wark – a friend of Donald Dewar, who was the architect of our parliament – was a panel member chosen by him to decide upon the designer of Holyrood, and was an enthusiastic supporter of the project whose architect was chosen in 1998.

Now of course she and Sarah Smith are keen to establish anti-SNP credentials, to deprecate Holyrood and our independence and also probably the destruction of the Scottish Parliament, thereby ingratiating themselves with their new-found Tory colleagues, abandoning their Labour background but safeguarding meanwhile a handsome stipend from the BBC.

Have they no shame? Apparently not, but the brass neck does help!

John Hamilton
Bearsden

I’M not one for theories, but having read letters, some to this newspaper, and watched Ms Wark’s “documentary” about Alex Salmond, I cannot help but wonder if these rumours of a rift between our current and previous First Ministers are not actually being created principally online by so-called nationalists who are, in fact, Unionists seeking to damage the SNP and destroy the cause of Scottish independence.

Who else, after all, has anything to gain from this “split” in the largest party supporting self-government for Scotland?

I would draw readers’ attention to Ruth Wishart’s excellent articles about this very issue.

I have also read David Lindsay’s suggestions to Scottish voters (Letters, August 19) and I have to ask him just what exactly would his idea achieve, other than return a Unionist government to Holyrood? If we want to see independence for Scotland, we have to “keep the heid” and stick together on this one.

Andrew Haddow
via email

LIKE many other readers I was annoyed by the BBC’s decision to re-run the Alex Salmond case and was in no doubt that this would be a one-sided hatchet job by a corrupt organisation which has no interest in telling the truth. However, I didn’t watch the propaganda show – I knew exactly what the BBC would do.

I am, however, disappointed that as I already refuse to pay the TV licence to fund this bunch of chancers I can’t boycott them again!

However, I would encourage everyone who is annoyed with the BBC to simply stop paying the TV licence. The BBC don’t deserve your money and you know they won’t tell you the truth anyway. Go online and find the legal options for refusing to pay the BBC to lie to you. The sooner we are independent and can form our own independent broadcaster, the better.

Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley

ALEX Cole-Hamilton’s question to Leslie Evans might have been better framed as “Was it [this procedure] designed to get Alex Salmond or was this just a useful consequence?”

Bob Millar
via email