It is also worth reflecting on Ruth Marr's view of the world, which is not uncommon in the post-referendum world, where some individuals and parties can do no harm and others can do no good (Letters, March 19).
So in the latter case, New Labour cannot be given credit for its international interventions in Sierra Leone and Kosovo, and Tony Blair must be personally blamed for all deaths in Iraq, including the 90 per cent caused by Arab-on-Arab attacks (by Baathists and sectarian criminals).
Likewise, he must be damned for catastrophic decisions made not by him but by the dysfunctional Bush White House, not least the infamous CPA Order No 2 that disbanded the Iraqi Army.
In the real world, if Tony Blair really was a war criminal, he would not have been appointed by the Quartet of the UN, EU, the United States and Russia to be its Middle East representative.
And we now know that Labour MPs would not have voted for the Iraq War had they had the same information before them that Ms Marr enjoys in hindsight, as both Ed Miliband and Jim Murphy have acknowledged.
The untidy reality beyond the "four-legs-good, two-legs-bad" dogma is that all governments get some things right and some things wrong.
The achievements of the Blair/Brown governments are very considerable, both in domestic and constitutional policy, and in international affairs.
So while it would be wrong to claim that those governments were perfect, and others will continue to parrot their failures, more reasonable people will conclude that the balance sheets of the New Labour governments are more positive than those of the alternative Major/Hague/Howard administrations would have been.
Similarly, as we examine the prospects of the next government, we can be certain that it will either be led by David Cameron or by Ed Miliband.
The question we should ask is whether - on the evidence of the past five years - we would feel that the former will do more good than harm or the latter.
My money is on Mr Miliband, who was not even an MP at the time of the Iraq War, and was instrumental in the vote to veto British airstrikes in Syria.
Peter A Russell,
87 Munro Road,
Jordanhill,
Glasgow.
Ian W Thomson (Letters, March 19) points out that, in the years since Tony Blair led Labour to a landslide victory in 1997, his standing and that of his party has slipped considerably.
This is perhaps a timely reminder to the SNP, at present on the crest of a political wave, that, with a significant increase in their numbers at Westminster, they will have the opportunity to enhance or diminish their reputation for fair and responsible conduct.
The promise this week by former first minister Alex Salmond that the SNP will shake Westminster to its foundations comes across as intemperate and, if carried to its extremes, could provoke anti-Scottish sentiment not seen since the the '45 Jacobean jaunt.
This would be in no-one's interest.
R Russell Smith,
96 Milton Road,
Kilbirnie.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article