HAVE watched the three Scottish election special programmes by BBC Scotland, STV and Channel 4 News. They have all left me dismayed that the very simple, straightforward and factually correct concept of “vote Labour, get Tory” in Scotland has been pretty well pushed to the side.

I’m aware it’s a Scottish election and not a UK one, but this principle will never go away. For those that are desperate for a more equal and just society, it should be at the forefront of their minds before choosing which party to vote for.

I’m an ex-Labour voter who voted for Jim Callaghan in 1979, Michael Foot in 1983, Neil Kinnock in 1987 and 1992, then finally supported the winning side in 1997 led by a certain Mr Blair. For all of those reading this and choking on your first tea/coffee of the day, I fairly soon afterwards “saw the light” and have supported independence ever since.

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What swayed me and probably hundreds of thousands of other ex-Labour voters was the sheer futility of my choice. For four out of five of those elections I participated in, I might as well have taken my ballot paper from the ballot station and thrown it into the nearest bin.

I voted SNP in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 UK elections and of course afterwards we were lorded over by one Tory/LibDem coalition government and three Tory ones, all of them right-wing and getting more extreme each time. During that period and prior to it, the SNP has become the dominant political force in Scotland and hopefully we are getting closer and closer to independence. What we now need is far more Labour supporters to “see the light” and join us.

Unfortunately there is a rump in Scottish Labour that have never forgiven the SNP for demolishing their fiefdom in Scotland and appear to loathe us more than the Tories, which I consider totally unforgivable. It’s now time, however, for the majority of right-minded Labour supporters to swallow their pride for the benefit of the vast majority of Scots. Your continued support for the Union has been, is currently being, and will be extremely detrimental to those you purport to care for. Never, ever forget the mantra, “vote Labour, get Tory!” Scotland needs you!

Ivor Telfer
Dalgety Bay

BORIS Johnson will be the final arbiter as to whether or not he has broken the Ministerial Code. What is the point of that, since we know what he will say?

He refused to ask Priti Patel to resign when it was found she had broken the code, and instead a senior civil servant resigned in frustration. We all know what happened with Dominic Cumming and Barnard Castle trip – he was even given the Rose Garden to make his case, which in my opinion only damned himself.

Here in Scotland we had DRoss demanding the FM resign over an allegation before she had a chance to defend herself, but he comes out to defend Boris yet claims to be his own man. Boris has made liars of the spokespersons he has sent out to tell the world how he paid for the refurbishment himself – it seems to have been paid eventually by him, but he has put others in the frame with his behaviour. He has history for lying, having been sacked at least twice from high-profile jobs for telling lies.

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As for his comments about “bodies piling high”; the very fact that many can believe he said such a terrible thing is testimony to the many offensive things he has said and written.

Even in Northern Ireland Arlene Foster has paid the price for his incompetence and lies. He promised there would be no hard border but of course there is a border, and that has upset the Unionists.

Here in Scotland he promised the fishermen and farmers of Scotland wonderful opportunities and larger markets but has left their businesses in ruins with every promise broken.

The headlines in yesterday’s paper sum it up, he has “painted himself into a corner” by his own stupidity, incompetence and lies. Anyone who pays £840 for a roll of wallpaper or £5,000 for a single chair when they cannot afford it is by that very act proving how deluded they are.

Winifred McCartney
Paisley

IF Ian Blackford had been allowed a supplementary to his “are you a liar, Prime Minister?” question, he should just have asked, “is the Pope a Catholic?” Johnson has lied repeatedly in his entire career, whether as a “newspaper contributor” (calling him a journalist demeans real journalists) or as a politician. There are numerous testimonies to that. The really depressing thing is not that Johnson lies but that so many people don’t see his endemic dishonesty as a reason to deny him or his party’s preferred candidates their vote.

Andrew McCracken
Grantown-on-Spey

REGARDLESS whether the money to pay for the redecoration of Boris’ flat came from his income or a party donor, it is worth noting that a few months after complaining he did not earn enough, he and his partner were reported to have spent £800 per roll for wallpaper. This is much more than a disabled person receives in a month from the state in both components of disability living allowance, at just under £660, and almost twice the average weekly salary for a fully qualified nurse, at around £488. I agree that personal life should mean personal choices, but do we really need a PM who sets such a bad example of profligacy?

Pete Rowberry
Duns

WATCHING the latest in the series of party leader debates on Tuesday night, I was struck by Willie Rennie’s complete inability to distinguish between the words “I” and “we”. I wonder if he will ever understand that he represents only a small minority party and does not even speak for all of his constituents – many of whom, myself included, have had enough of being misrepresented by him.

Ni Holmes
St Andrews