I REALLY am getting cheesed off at the number of people coming out of the woodwork to get back at the SNP for something that happened in the past.”Revenge best served cold” items will cause irreparable damage to the independence movement as opposition mouthpieces like the Baroness will jump on them and try to get maximum soundbites from them.

Enough is happening without these old personal injustices being trotted out to appease those who feel put down/off or out! Most rank-and-file members are working their tails off to persuade and convince “not sures” to move to Yes, and all this bickering over perceived injuries years ago makes the movement sound like a gossips’ tea-party!

READ MORE: The SNP isn’t perfect – but broadcasting negativity won’t help campaign

Yes, it wasn’t perfect ... what is? And there are things that need updated, fixed, changed, whatever – but let’s remember the goal. There will be plenty time after we gain independence for every faction which feels it is the best to put its case to the public in an election. In the meantime, it’s the FUTURE that is important.

Don’t waste this opportunity. Ms Sturgeon has worked tirelessly to show we are “fit” to be in charge of our own destiny. She has created a positive and trusted environment conducive to moving to achieve that goal. Yesterdays’ folks shouldn’t waste the future of our nation by griping and trying to settle old scores with the party. Give the future and Scotland the support it deserves.

It’s worth it!

EA
East Kilbride

I’VE just read Stephen Gethins’s article in The National about his experiences in the countries around the Caucasus mountains (Scotland could give troubled region a safe space in which to build peace, October 2). What a wonderful envoy he turned out to be when he represented North East Fife and Scotland when in Westminster as an SNP MP.

It was his account of his mission as a peace-maker between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia that came through, giving the impression that he regarded his role as much more than just a sitting SNP MP (which is more than the current Tory Home and Foreign Secretaries).

READ MORE: Scotland could give troubled region a safe space in which to build peace

Stephen Gethins graduated with a degree in international law and went on to become a special advisor in overseas affairs to Alex Salmond when he was First Minister, then afterwards with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

It is of no surprise, then, that St Andrews University quickly recognised his academic background coupled with his political background, in appointing him as a professor at its School of International Relations after he lost his North East Fife seat as SNP MP.

Stephen Gethins now hopes to become another Fife member of parliament, but this time in Scotland’s own parliament in Holyrood. If selected, he will be fighting for election to the long-held constituency seat of Roseanna Cunningham’s in next May’s election.

Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife

SUZANNE McLaughlin’s article in the Sunday National (A woman who shares loss of her baby should be praised and not trolled) is to be welcomed. My experience 46 years ago of the deaths of my very premature twin boys, after five hours sharing one incubator in a Carlisle hospital, came back very forcefully.

The pain and desperation of the first few weeks and months gave way to a form of normality which was interspersed with episodes which could derail me – a flippant but serious remark by a new father, saying his new baby would change his nice life, or the news that someone was expecting twins.

READ MORE: A woman who shares loss of her baby should be praised and not trolled

Keeping silent exacerbates the pain, but talking about dead babies is uncomfortable for many to hear, and eventually I stopped. The event was like an open wound, red and angry, which in time healed to leave a scar that became part of my life story.

The idea of silence around the loss of a baby was brought home to me by letters at the time from older people – family friends and neighbours – who had lost babies many years before. In particular my maternal granny wrote a beautiful letter about her lost twins, which my mother knew nothing about. Today, thankfully we are more likely to be open about such issues, but people like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend should not have their pain and grief exacerbated by so doing.

Hazel Godfrey
Edinburgh

SUNAK is after the Prime Minister’s position but the shine is coming off him as well, as Johnson now admits Eat Out to Help Out has caused Covid-19 cases to rise. It looks like a power tussle!

Of course, Sunak is in the same Unionist mould as Johnson. No change there. England needs indy too if it is to sort out its own devolved mess. Let them fight it out! It seems D Ross has opened a can of worms. Poor Johnson has had to appear to disown D Ross’s remarks.

Torydom is in crisis in more ways than one. Still, the English voted them in, so let them leave the Union and sort out their own troubles. Nothing personal, just true self-inflicted retribution! Get it done and stop inflicting Tory mess on the people north of the border. We have had quite enough!

John Edgar
via thenational.scot