AT Wednesday's Prime MQs George Osborne, standing in for our Eurolobbying Prime Minister, faced Labour's Hilary Benn ("Chancellor shakily takes the wheel for Cameron at PMQs ...
but is given an easy ride", The Herald, June 18). His six questions (on Syria, radicalisation and people trafficking) made me wonder why Mr Benn is not a contender for leader of his party.
Here was quiet-spoken, detailed, statesmanlike questioning which threw the Chancellor, drew from him a silly scripted Bennite joke, forced him into detail on terrain foreign to him, and hushed the usually braying chamber.
It can only trouble Labour supporters further that their three serious candidates for leader, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall are so fond of evasion, empty rhetoric, sniping and sloganeering.
Hilary Benn tested a Chancellor - himself with leadership ambitions - as few fellow Labour MPs could. Is Mr Benn to be another one of the great leaders Labour, to their cost, never elected?
Martin Ketterer,
Tavistock Drive,
Newlands, Glasgow.
COURTESY of your Letters Pages, I have previously stated that Ken Macintosh should stand as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party. The last time he stood in 2011, the majority of his fellow Labour MSPs agreed with me. His losing to Johann Lamont was only as a result of a dated voting system that afforded a disproportionate amount of power to the trade unions.
That archaic voting system has now changed. But so too have the fortunes of the Scottish Labour Party, which now sorely needs the benefit of an experienced and credible leader. Mrn Macintosh fits that description. This is not to belittle the qualities of his main rival, the excellent Kezia Dugdale, who shows real potential to develop into a formidable force in the future. However, if the Scottish Labour Party should learn just one thing from the continuing success of Nicola Sturgeon, it must be that Ms Sturgeon's undisputed mastery of politics was learned over several years honing her skills, while a more experienced mentor held centre stage. The success of this long-term strategy is clear for all to see.
Mr Macintosh appeals on several levels. I have known him for 16 years and recognise that he is a fundamentally decent man. His industrious and caring qualities indicate one who is capable of unifying a fractured Scottish Labour Party. As a Liberal Democrat, I recognise that Mr Macintosh is capable of building a left of centre consensus, which the Scottish Labour Party must develop with others if it is to survive.
With Mr Macintosh at the helm today, Ms Dugdale may in due course lead a party capable of forming winning coalitions.
Allan C Steele,
22 Forres Avenue, Giffnock.
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