DEAR Michael Russell,
Your article in the Sunday National (Give peace a chance, February 7) was enlightening, considering what you didn’t say as much as what you did. You seem to have conflated popularity with success and you imply understanding of others’ feelings.
I am not “incensed” nor “screeching with rage”. I am very, very sad, and confused but most of all, disappointed. Is our government really in touch with what people in Scotland want?
We want children lifted out of poverty; an education that prepares us for life, regardless of our pocketbook; safety from Covid-19 and other health threats; and most of us would prefer to live far from weapons of mass destruction. Climate change is pretty important for us too.
READ MORE: Michael Russell: SNP infighting only empowers those who would see us fail
But on a less specific note, it’s really important that we have honest politicians (we can dream!) and a society that values equality, openness and TRANSPARENCY.
Redacted documents, people who decline appearing before committees and legal submissions that are – what is the word for covering up something completely? Smothering? Suffocating? Obliterating? Each of these things may have a perfectly sound reason but when collected together, they tend to look suspicious.
Words are powerful but actions speak loudest. Look around and tell me who is working hardest for Scottish independence? Who’s published policy papers on Scottish currency, future infrastructure, energy and trade? Who’s established a new campaigning group that links together grassroots supporters? Who jumps up to rebut inaccuracies about a future Scotland’s capabilities? (Hint – different names for each answer.)
So, when you refer to the “angry” in your articles, please pause a moment and ask yourself if they are justified in being angry, for all kinds of reasons. Don’t read a few Twitter feeds and make judgements about an entire population.
Jane Guz
via email
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