As Theresa May showed symptoms of dictatorship and the media cooed over the royal wedding, the Sunday Herald’s well researched coverage of Trump’s grand Middle Eastern tour is more relevant to global security (Watch out china shop, here comes the bull: Trump goes to the Middle East, The world, May 21).
A golfing President teeing off in a region of all-consuming religious hatred, who provides Saudi Arabia with means to polish off Yemen before dealing with Iran, may well please Israel but not the Kremlin. Come June, avoid voting for greed or stupidity: try intelligence, environmental protection and independence – we may need all three before too long.
Iain R Thomson
Cannich
Iain Macwhirter’s thinks the UK Conservative manifesto could be summed up as “vote for me”, while the Scottish version simply said: “No!” (Being Tory means never having to explain your manifesto, Comment, May 21). Yet at least in both cases they cannot be accused of hiding their true purpose.
The SNP intend to use their manifesto to spin out a grievance, hoping to mask an overriding objective. The grievance this time is not getting their own way on Brexit, even though the EU has been clear that a separate deal for Scotland while still a part of the UK cannot happen.
The ambition being played down is that once the dust settles on the General Election result, the First Minister intends to return to what she was just about to reveal before Theresa May’s surprise call for a snap election: a plan to engineer an independence referendum rerun even when the UK Government has made clear this must wait. The plan has been kept under wraps to avoid upsetting the sensibilities of the electorate when trying to secure their votes. Will Nicola Sturgeon press the button on her referendum legislation forcing the UK Government to block it in the courts, or simply seek to disrupt the Brexit process at every turn?
Keith Howell
West Linton
Iain Macwhirter writes that “if the SNP lost 26 seats next month it would be a political earthquake” (Has anyone got a cure for voter fatigue, Comment, May 14). In 2015, 45 per cent of the electorate voted for an independent Scotland and in the 2015 general election, 56 of the 59 seats returned SNP candidates.
Those wittering on ad nauseam about a second referendum are Tory, Labour and LibDem politicians. The Scottish electorate is savvy enough to realise we are on the threshold of independence. Let’s get this General Election over and put an end to being under the cosh of a Westminster Tory Government. An alliance with the greens must be part of a progressive government in Holyrood. Freedom!
Jane Bullock
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