I STRUGGLED to make myself read Kevin McKenna’s column on Thursday (Section 35 order is not anti-democratic but the SNP have been for some time, Jan 19). I am not going to engage in debate around the GRR, however his attack on our elected representatives cannot go unchallenged.

I am not sure if Kevin is aware of the level of work and personal sacrifice carried out by our MPs and MSPs. In Highland, my own MP has a five-hour drive to reach an airport where he can fly to London.

I wish we were independent but as long as we are not, I and many others need him there. He is our voice on reserved matters and as someone deeply personally affected by the hostile immigration policy I am extremely grateful every time he stands up and speaks on our behalf.

My MSP has the dual role of being a constituency MSP and a government minister. The workload is immense. There is no beginning or end to the working day and very little time or understanding from the public for any personal issues that may be going on in the background.

I am fairly confident they are not doing it for the pension! They do it because they care. They care about their constituents and they care about the future of Scotland.

I want independence tomorrow. The future of my family here literally depends on it. However it will not happen until a significant majority of the people of Scotland want it.

In my spare time I am constantly campaigning, supported by my SNP elected representatives who Kevin appears to think are on a gravy train.

I will campaign until the day I die, and if independence does not happen in my lifetime I will know I have done everything I can to fight for a positive vision of an independent Scotland.

I’m not sure Kevin has the same aspiration.

Cllr Liz Kraft

Strathpeffer

I’M not sure what goes on in Kevin McKenna’s fevered imagination in these “sacred places” that we women occupy, but I gather I am expected to be quite alarmed at the prospect of them being invaded on account of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

It’s true there is a lot for women to fear in this life: dark streets, random attackers, would-be rapists, gropers on the tube train, flashers in the alleyway, peeping toms at the window, men who harass women on public transport, gangs of unruly teenagers, untrustworthy taxi drivers, “handsy” employers, sexist lecturers, rogue policemen, abusive, controlling partners, drunken violent husbands, a Harold Shipman for your GP, or a Fred West for your father.

It could be that I am not easily scared, or it might be because I have been lucky enough to meet some rather nice people who were undergoing gender reassignment, but I seem to find that sharing changing rooms or public toilets with transgender women (or men) is pretty far down my personal list of worries.

Even if a predatory man was to pretend to be a woman for impure motives, ie not a genuine transsexual, I can’t quite see what is stopping him from doing that already.

I don’t mean to dismiss anyone else’s fears, I’m just saying that we don’t all share them and I think we need to get this matter into a bit of perspective.

Maggie Milne

Dundee

ALISTER Jack, Rishi Sunak and the front bench of the UK Government are a disgrace! As a husband and father, I take women’s safety very seriously and I am not trying to belittle many legitimate concerns that some women may have with the recent GRR bill.

I have not followed the discussions with regards to this bill in detail but I have confidence in the MSPs from all parties who have spent many hours in doing so, and reaching a considered decision.

Jack and Sunak are doing their best to raise the spectre of a rampaging hoard of 16-year-old Scots, clutching their gender recognition certificates, embarking on a rampage of rape and pillage through the Home Counties in the style of berserker Vikings of old.

Let us be aware that women are statistically thousands of times more likely to be raped, murdered and sexually abused by serving police officers of the Metropolitan Police.

Frank Spratt

Edinburgh