ACCIDENTS don't happen, one can usually find a cause.

Is it an accident that as the temperature rises in the run-up to the General Election that Tony Blair very publicly rubbishes the chances of a Labour Party victory ("Blair attacked for dismissing Miliband hopes", The Herald, January 1?)

Why would the former leader of the political party that had its origins in the struggle for decent lives for the working-class, the man who deliberately transformed this organisation into one essentially indistinguishable from its traditional opposition, now deliberately stab his successor in the back?

Why would a man who, incredible though it may appear to many, is a "Peace Ambassador" to a region that he deliberately destabilised and is the recipient of a "Global legacy award" from the Save the Children Fund while at the same time a movement exists to have him impeached for war crimes and he carries with him the stink of allegedly profiting from oil and arms deals feel the need to interfere?

If and when the Chilcot Iraq report is ever allowed to see the light of day it is unlikely that Mr Blair's reputation will be enhanced despite his messianic zeal to turn Iraq into a modern democracy at the expense of international law and the thousands who died and continue to die as a result of his personal intervention, so why do we listen to the man at all?

It begs the question: here we have a man who destroyed the traditional Labour Party, who sowed the seeds of the current shambolic financial state of the country, who is directly responsible for much of the brutal barbaric conflict in the Middle East and who while many suffer because of this has become a multi-millionaire globe-trotter; why is he now wheeled out to throw a spanner in the works of his own political party?

Is he concerned that Ed Miliband has discovered Labour's long-lost moral compass and is going off-script, is it vanity (as if we care what he thinks), or is it akin to Gordon Brown's last-minute referendum involvement, an indication of panic by the Establishment at the great unwashed getting uppity? Whatever the reason it is it is no accident.

David J Crawford,

Flat 3/3 131 Shuna Street,

Glasgow.

TONY Blair believes that the Labour Party has become too left-wing under Ed Miliband. Where has Mr Blair been over the past ten years, on Planet Zog? Oh that's right, he's been working away for peace in the Middle East.

Sheila Duffy,

3 Hamilton Drive, Glasgow.

I FIND it somewhat ironic that Alistair Darling is worried that his old comrade in arms might undermine his beloved Union with his plans for English Votes for English Laws (Evel) ("Darling warns Cameron not to use Evel to undermine the Union", The Herald, December 31). As the leader of Better Together it is astonishing that he didn't know that his bedfellow was planning such a announcement in the event of a large Yes vote.

However, as one of those Yes voters, I urge Mr Cameron to do all he can to undermine the Union and to hasten the day when we can look forward to Referendum 2. Who would have thought that the Unionists reaction to the referendum would actually speed us towards the next one?

Alan Carroll,

24 The Quadrant,

Clarkston,

Glasgow.

I AM surprised that both Nigel Dewar Gibb and Roddy MacDonald (Letters, January 1) required confirmation from the release of government papers that the Scots were used as guinea pigs for the Community Charge (aka the Poll Tax). It was fairly obvious that the tax was introduced at the behest of the Scottish Tories and that it was being trialled here.

What l had not appreciated until now was that there were members of the Government who had reservations regarding the tax and who thought that it was a potentially flawed method of raising revenue for local government. That makes it all the more surprising that when the guinea pigs highlighted the weaknesses that the government pressed on regardless.

It was not the fact that we were used as guinea pigs that should alarm us, but rather the failure to learn from the experience. Mrs Thatcher thought we were simply rebellious Scots and did not realise (as shown by our experiences) that the Community Charge was flawed. Consequently the hated Poll Tax was introduced in England and Mrs Thatcher's reign as Prime Minister was brought to an end, not by the electorate, but rather by the Tory party itself.

Sandy Gemmill,

40 Warriston Gardens, Edinburgh.

RUTH Wishart regrets that yesterday's big beasts of the Westminster jungle have been followed by today's tamer specimens and discloses her appetite for the intimidating Denis Healey, John Smith, Donald Dewar, Gordon Brown, Robin Cook even Edward Heath and others ( "Holyrood is now the place to look for political big beasts", The Herald, December 26 ).

Surprisingly she omits the scary female of the species, the man-eating Margaret Thatcher, who, love her or loathe her, marked her territory with the best of them and would have dined on today's Holyrood political pygmies for starters, filled up on Messrs Milliband and Ball and had Alex Salmond for dessert.

It may be that big beasts are an endangered species but given the havoc they can create when out of control I am not sure that I, for one, look to endorse their preservation.

R Russell Smith,

96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.