I WAS saddened to learn that Neil Oliver considers that the Scottish electorate is so foolish as to be lured by the efficiency of the Scottish Government into thinking that we might do better on our own. His Unionist contempt for the wisdom of the common sense of the people of Scotland is exemplified by the most recent Tory leaflet doing the rounds.

A highly expensive document contains not a single mention of the UK Government or its destructive policies, nor the slightest indication of what Scottish Tories are for, except that they are opposed to asking us what we think. Do these people really have any understanding of our nation? Do they not realise that we all feel sure the leaflet was paid for by someone who won a UK Government contract?

READ MORE: Neil Oliver claims SNP have 'made a fool of Scotland' in furious attack

The only party which is obsessed with independence is the Tory party, because the SNP is not obsessed by it. The dream of independence is the bond which binds us together, and within our ambition to achieve it we discuss and argue seriously about the future for our nation. There are divides among us but we all are clear that we can only achieve whatever better society we seek if we are free of dominant Westminster imperialism. In that we are all agreed, for all of us have had the Unionist scales removed from our eyes. I deeply suspect that the reason the Tories are concentrating on the “Stop the SNP” theme is that they have no coherent answer to support the purported Union. Let’s hear the arguments in favour of Union. I can think of none.

As to the argument that they are the only opposition to the SNP in Holyrood, the answer is simply that the SNP is the only effective opposition to the Tories in Westminster. What has that achieved for the hopes of either party? As to the “I’m half-Scots” argument, my kin are from Breadalbane, Ayrshire, Argyll, Ireland, Wales, France, Ecuador and England but I do not feel entitled to vote anywhere but in my bit of Perthshire, for that is where I live. And I wish I was 16 and voting for the first time.

KM Campbell
Doune

I MET Neil Oliver many years ago and he seemed a reasonable guy. I admired his knowledge of the history of Scotland and the way he has, recently, advocated Orkney as the starting points for all UK stone circles and henges etc. However, this latest outburst against the Scottish Government has left me with the opinion that he is a complete idiot. He may well be an educated idiot but he is, nevertheless, an idiot.

It is fair comment that Nicola Sturgeon and her government may well be open to criticism for the way they handled the Salmond issue. Let’s wait for the result of the enquiry. But there is no way that criticism can be lodged against our government’s handling of the pandemic, particularly since recent statistics issued by the Westminster Government’s ONS has shown that not only is Scotland vaccinating its population faster, on a per head basis, than any other European nation but we also have the lowest infection rate of any of the UK countries. Maybe he should be criticising Westminster in this respect. He certainly has no basis for criticising Scotland.

In exactly the same way it is the pandemic and nothing else that has caused the chaos to the education systems throughout the UK countries. Perhaps he should note that it was Scotland that first decreed that teachers’ estimates should be taken as the basis for issuing qualifications last year, and Westminster then followed our lead. Maybe he should also take note that figures released last year showed that it is English schools that are the worst in Europe, not Scottish schools.

If he is so dissatisfied with the last “14 years of SNP misrule” then perhaps he should move to England, where he will pay £9 per item for his medical prescriptions instead of having them for free as Scotland does. Or, how about having to pay for his care home when he gets a bit older. Care for the elderly is still free in Scotland but not in England. Maybe the fact that university students in England have to pay for their education there, while it’s free in Scotland, doesn’t bother him because his university education is behind him. And when he gets his pensioner’s bus pass, he might reflect on the fact that it is available on Scottish services only since pensioners have to pay when they get the bus in England. Quite honestly if he can’t come up with anything more sensible than the drivel he has just spouted then he should “jist haud his wheesht!”

Charlie Kerr
Glenrothes

EVERYONE is entitled to have their own political views and to share comments on them. However there’s something awfully smelly about Neil Oliver’s occasional rants about Scotland’s government and the SNP. Surely for anybody studying history it’s essential to understand events in their unique context.

On issues about this country’s government, consistent public support for the ruling party must always be respected. Furthermore, it is not the First Minister’s fault that she must regularly address the nation about the Covid crisis.

In the historical context, Oliver should reflect on Scotland’s support for tumultuous events during the 1970-2000 period. Scotland didn’t take any pleasure in industrial strife, de-industrialisation, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the financial manipulation by government which led to the banking crisis.

It is against this background that the current Scottish Government should be appraised. This is without reference to the UK’s present leadership...

Kenneth HW Campbell
Troon

IT would be more effective to ignore his inane ramblings and not give him any space in an independence-supporting paper: publicity is what he craves.

MD Clark
Midlothian