THE piece “Tory MSP mocked for embarrassing testing gaffe” (Jul 6) would have been laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

The fact that such an individual is involved in making decisions that affect the Scottish people and that the Scottish taxpayers are paying his very generous salary and expenses is unacceptable.

READ MORE: 'Out of touch' Tory MSP mocked after attack on SNP backfires spectacularly

It must not be forgotten that as a list MSP Maurice Golden was selected by the Conservative and Unionist Party, no doubt after a rigorous selection process, and this is the outcome. His party could sack him for bringing it into ridicule. They could replace him with the next on their list and would obviate the need for a by-election and would demonstrate a sense of responsibility towards his constituents. The educational establishments responsible for his education should be embarrassed.

It is apparent that the Tory party in Scotland are finding it difficult to recruit intelligent, hard-working and committed people to stand as candidates.

Thomas L Inglis
Fintry

THERE are a number of activities in Scotland which give me a sense of optimism amid the depressing reports about Covid uncertainties.

While the most of the UK media tend to underestimate the level of interest in the campaign for Scottish independence, the number of foreign journalists who came to report on the recent Holyrood election was quite instructive.

So Mike Fenwick’s newly announced petition for the United Nations seems like a positive idea (Wanted: 100 Scots to sign a declaration to United Nations, Jul 5). His call for 100 Scots independence supporters is a reminder of the Treaty of Arbroath and its declaration of Scottish sovereignty.

READ MORE: Wanted: 100 Scots to sign a declaration to United Nations as UK refuses S30 Order

Dr Elliot Bulmer, Dundee academic, has put out a call to the SNP leadership to begin to draft a constitution for an independent Scotland. People who root around the Yes campaign looking for information about activities will know already that Bob Ingram and his group have already been doing this for some years and have an accessible website which encourages public participation.

Those people in the population who felt that the debates about currency let us us down in the last referendum have also been busy. There have been a number of groups and individuals who have come together in the Scottish Currency Group, who have been looking at the issues of the economy and banking system for a prosperous, independent Scotland.These groups are just a few of many who are working and organising for a future referendum.

Those in the population who still believe that we aren’t “too wee and too poor” to become independent are let down by many in the media who do not feel such issues are worth reporting.

People who who would like to know more about currency and banking reform can join a Zoom evening meeting with the Clean Currency for Scotland Campaign on Thursday, July 15 (Contact julian.smith@yesdunfermlinewestfife.scot).

Maggie Chetty
Glasgow

I CAN’T get anyone to explain why the need for a referendum. Before the millennium no-one ever talked about holding some sort of plebiscite. Ever. It was never in any manifesto. All we had to do was elect a majority of MPs to Wastemonster, and that would automatically give us a mandate to negotiate independence.

Who decided that we needed some sort of extra permission? When did this happen? It’s an English trap that we’ve fallen into. Bring the MPs home now. There will always be an excuse for delay; like deciding when to have a baby, the time is never “right”. How many more people must die in poverty? How many more businesses must cease? Bring the MPs home now.

Colin Brown
Leith

I AM in entire agreement with Lesley Riddoch’s assertion (July 8) that we should have our referendum in 2022 but concerned with some unhelpful contributions on the issue. In particular the continuous repetition, repeated in your letters pages yesterday, that the “the SNP have had multiple mandates”.

Divisive and destructive nonsense. Being taken out of the EU against our will provided us with a mandate as per our stated position in our election manifesto. I have no doubt we intended to move quickly on that, as was evidenced by the provision of a new and highly attractive Yes sign, widely distributed across the whole party. Then came Covid.

READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch: A second independence referendum must be held in 2022

The notion that we should proceed with an independence campaign in the face of a vicious and deadly pandemic is nonsense and it is hard to imagine fully the hammering we would have taken across all the media had we done so. Until we won our election this year on the basis of our right to choose, that was the only mandate the SNP had.

Now, with that second mandate, as we appear to be moving out of the worst of Covid is the time indeed that we have to start new independence campaign, particularly as our enemy is already working very hard against it. This should be done through the SNP’s massive branch structure, which is desperate to start. In the meantime, can James Duncan provide us with the details of the “multiple mandates” he appears to imagine the SNP has had?

David McEwan Hill
Sandbank, Argyll

YOU report (July 6) that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sawar and Willie Rennie, his LibDem counterpart, have held talks about “working together and stopping independence”. What clearer evidence do we need that Sawar and Rennie believe Scottish independence to be inevitable? If they thought it was never going to happen, there would be no need to try to “stop” it!

Peter Swain
Dunbar