FURTHER to the letter on Monday from R Mill Irving, as a fellow East Lothian resident I share his concern regarding the recent writings of our MP, Kenny MacAskill.
It is not novel for senior members of political parties, with waning influence in those parties as they enter the twilights of their political careers, to be more outspoken in their views about their own parties.
However, while other non-elected citizens are relatively free to express their personal views, even in politically hostile newspapers and sometimes seemingly oblivious to the wider damage caused to their previously declared primary ambitions, Mr MacAskill has a responsibility to those who voted for him to broadly support his party, the policy platform of which he was elected on.
READ MORE: Kenny MacAskill hits out over ‘lack of indyref2 groundwork’
Ex-MP and Labour government minister Brian Wilson reveals through his weekly column in The Scotsman his persistently facile, subjective and bitter personal views in denigrating Scotland’s own government and by implication our country.
Mr MacAskill – as well as others who have in the past played significant roles in encouraging more people to believe that independence offers the best prospects for our children – will, in the lead-up to the Holyrood election in May, have privileged opportunities to focus on helping all political strands of the SNP to constructively work together.
Using those opportunities to foster a cohesive spirit within the SNP as well as the broader Yes movement, as we draw ever closer to the day when the people of Scotland can determine their own collective future and the essential political path the Scottish Government should follow, will be a lasting legacy with which they and all their personal supporters can be proud.
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
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