SNP accounts must be open to scrutiny by the membership

There have been questions about funds not being properly allocated and this has caused concern. Now I am not saying that there is anything whatever wrong with the accounts, but what I am saying is that these accounts must be open to public scrutiny by the membership.

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It is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure that this is done, and he should have dealt with this before it came to this stage. Peter Murrell is well paid to do this work and once again it looks as though he has failed the party. The fact that he is married to Nicola should make him feel more responsible in doing his job, not less responsible. He should get a grip and deal with this or resign.

Andy Anderson
Saltcoats

FOLLOWING my recent letter regarding the resignation of the SNP’s audit committee and the party’s treasurer, I am extremely disappointed in the unnamed briefings issued by the SNP basically slating those who have resigned.

Is this really how the party and its leadership want to respond to the serious concerns of those who have resigned? Snidey, backstabbing comments released by the party does nothing but belittle the party and the current leadership, unless they step in and refute all those comments.

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This is poor leadership. Senior MPs and campaigners have resigned due to party staff blocking access to information and yet all the party does is issue either petty comments from unnamed sources or badly drafted comments from the unelected business convener, Kirsten Oswald. Let’s remember no one voted for her to be business convener, she was appointed solely by the leader – so maybe the leader should take some responsibility for what is happening.

It’s clear party staff are now leading the party – members are paying their dues to be told by staff what they can see or do! No wonder so many experienced members have had enough – if this isn’t sorted soon I can see a lot more people either resigning or simply letting their memberships lapse.

Willie Bruce
Johnstone

WHIST I sympathise with Charlie Kerr about bringing our Westminster MPs home, there is a fundamental problem with this idea, namely that the government of the day is Conservative and they can operate without the SNP.

We would of course be following a precedent set by the Irish Republican members who have refused to take their seats since before the partition of Ireland in 1921, and continue to do so. The main difference with Charlie’s idea – and I’ve seen others make the same point – is that we set up a second chamber with them in Scotland. Which incidentally I fully agree with, and would propose that it is elected at the mid-term point of Holyrood, as well as sitting for a fixed term.

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However, I was recently reminded of how the Berlin Wall eventually collapsed and the reunification of Germany. That happened when some teenage girls decided to walk across the border and nothing happened. At the time those (government officials/civil service) working in Bonn realised that something big was happening and over the days and weeks the numbers grew until there were too many to stop and reunification was inevitable. I have said it before, but if we consider ourselves as an independent sovereign nation, then we must act and behave as one, not as subservient subjects of Westminster. When you look at various movements worldwide that have had a major impact, they have been led by the people, not the politicians. The government of the day can only run the country as long as it has the backing of the people who elect them. It doesn’t matter if it is Westminster or Holyrood or any government for that matter – past, present or in the future – as once the people have decided, then it has effectively got to happen.

As the UK doesn’t have a written constitution, theoretically anything is possible –and that includes sending more members down to London and overrunning Westminster with independence MPs. If anybody asks, where does it say in the constitution that we can’t do that? They are only Acts of Parliament which can be overturned on the whim of those holding the power at any one time. The list of things we could do in theory is endless if we put our minds to it. The main point would be to prevent Westminster working and not making it harder for ourselves.

Alexander Potts
Kilmarnock

CAN anyone hear the Scottish/Westminster branch office Unionist parties demanding that Matt Hancock resign for breaching the Ministerial Code? Me Neither! Lord Geidt, who conducted the inquiry, ruled it to be a minor breach. Aye right. A family firm in which Hancock has shares won an NHS contract. “Minor breach” of the Ministerial Code my arse. Great how the Scottish/Westminster branch office Unionist parties turn a BLIND EYE to all the corruption taking place in Westminster, and yet they were bleating for our First Minister to resign before an inquiry had taken place.

Anne Smart
Milton of Campsie

I FIND The National readers, judging by the letters pages, the most well-informed of any paper I ever read. And judging by the quality of the pictures of the Scottish countryside that they contribute they are also the best photographers as well.

James Arthur
Paisley