IF Jeremy Corbyn wants to lead a political party with some chance of success, perhaps he should form the Turkeys for Christmas Party. I am sure I am like many other pro-independence but politically unconnected people who are absolutely baffled by the Labour Party’s anti-SNP, anti-independence referendum obsession (“Corbyn: I’ll take from the rich and give to the poor”, The Herald, April 21).

Both Labour and the Tories talk of the SNP’s one-trick-pony message yet I watched a recent Labour party political broadcast for the local elections which was based on a completely negative message of why we should not vote SNP because this would be a vote for an independence referendum. No mention of local government services and how Labour would improve them. No mention of the lack of and accelerating disappearance of amenities like libraries which affect the poorest in our communities and are a consequence of the austerity policies of this Tory Government brought about by a failure of the banks, whose chief executives have moved on to bigger and better-remunerated things. Nothing positive at all; just the same old broken record of “no referendum”.

And so it is perpetuated in the nascent General Election campaign. With his rebuff of any sort of pact (which might actually save the Union – doh, Jeremy) it would seem that Corbyn’s view is “anyone but the SNP” – and that includes the Tories (“Corbyn rules out anti-Tory coalition with SNP”, The Herald, April 20). Is that really what they want? I remain utterly bemused at Labour’s Unionist obsession to the exclusion of all else.

So, I place my faith in the rank and file of the Labour Party to realise that the only chance of Labour achieving any sort of power in Scotland and therefore influence on the wellbeing of future generations (shouldn’t that be what they are about?) is within an independent Scotland.

I suspect that like many, I will vote SNP as a means to an end but in an independent Scotland with a radically different political landscape, that party would be unlikely to get my vote. Many might even consider a Labour Party free of its Unionist, let’s out-Tory the Tories obsession as a potential party of government in Scotland.

In the meantime, get the oven on and prepare the roast potatoes for the Labour Party Turkeys.

William Thomson,

25 Lithgow Place, Denny.

IN Jeremy Corbyn’s first major speech he vowed to overturn the “rigged” system. I mistakenly thought that he was promising to replace the discredited first past the post (FPTP) voting system with some form of proportional representation. I should have known better.

The present system guarantees that only the Conservative or Labour Party can govern at Westminster. The FPTP voting system is quite suitable in a two-party state such as in the United States and some other countries but in most European nations a system of proportional voting operates. The General Election in 2015 served only to prove that only a minority of the electorate had faith that any one party had all the answers to our problems. Strange then, that in setting up the devolved parliaments the then Government insisted that only a proportional system would be fair. To illustrate how ridiculous the FPTP system is we only have to look at the General Election result in Scotland where the SNP with barely 50 per cent of the total votes secured 95 per cent of the seats. How the Conservative Party must wish it could have reached that magic level throughout the UK.

The Conservative Party will be hoping that the electorate, especially Labour supporters, will be so weary of exercising their democratic rights that they will not bother to turn out on June. 8 I am not one who always votes for the same party as a matter of habit - I am what the Establishment detests, a floating voter who sometimes votes tactically and at other time selects one party if the policies are acceptable to me. Hold your breath and wait for the result on June 9.

JW Frame,

11 Lochside, Bearsden.

THE scientific discipline of quantum physics allows for many apparently illogical outcomes and phenomena. For instance it is possible for an entity to be a particle and a wave at the same time, and for these particles (waves) to be in different places at the same time, observations which, to the common intellect seem outlandish and contradictory. It also allows for simple mathematical calculations to have more than one “correct” result, so 1 + 1 can =2 or, depending on the circumstances, it can, just as validly, equal some other number.

I was reminded of these obscure thoughts when I saw you front-page subsidiary headline “First Minister insists only SNP can counter May ‘stranglehold’”(The Herald, April 21). For a variety of reasons, it is not entirely clear how many SNP MPs Ms Sturgeon currently commands in Westminster, but the highest number she can ever have is 59, because that's the total number of Scottish Westminster constituencies. How 59 (probably fewer after June 8) MPs can hold a Westminster majority PM to account is a problem worthy of the arcane considerations of quantum mathematics. Here, on planet Earth, it is a logical impossibility.

Of course, quantum theory also allows for other exotic phenomena such as wormholes and black holes and strings and with them the possibility of the existence of many other parallel universes. Perhaps it is in one of these parallel universes that our bold FM thinks that 59 is a greater number votes than 330. That would certainly explain the headline, if not the FM's underpinning logic.

Alex Gallagher,

Labour Councillor, North Coast and Cumbraes, North Ayrshire Council,

12 Phillips Avenue, Largs.

WITH the launch of the SNP local council manifesto, we have the usual empty platitudes of voting against “Tory austerity”, putting “local communities first” and that only the SNP will “protect vital services and jobs”. Really?

What about the damage the SNP has caused? My local community is increasingly derelict. We have had major shop and bank closures over the last five years. The local “B” roads have not had major repair work in decades. The registrar only works one day a week.

The local authority is withdrawing from many small and medium size towns in Scotland in what is increasingly resembling a process of long-term “managed decline”.

The Scottish Government has decreed that the Living Wage should be paid, but many local authorities are unable to provide this to their contractors as they have had a decade of SNP austerity.

The SNP has only just decided to raise council tax in what looks more like a sticking plaster and will make no real difference to many communities as once local services are diminished it becomes difficult to regenerate them again.

It’s ironic that the party will shunt the blame for this on to the Conservatives obsessing over ‘Brexit, when I have heard nothing but “independence, independence, independence” in what has resembled a constant campaign since 2012.

The SNP has not been “Stronger for Scotland” - or for the local community.

David Bone,

1 Ailsa Street West, Girvan.

I HAVE just received correspondence from the local Conservative candidates at the forthcoming election.

I fail to see what their headline “Send a message that we don't want a second referendum” has to do with my street lighting, refuse collections, local roads and other council responsibilities.

I'm not particularly keen on a second referendum myself but I now see for myself that the Conservatives are truly obsessed with stopping one. I can appreciate where the SNP is coming from now although I'm no mouthpiece for that party either.

Willie Towers,

Scaraben, Victoria Road, Alford, Aberdeenshire.

WATCHING news coverage of the proceedings at the Scottish Parliament I was disgusted to see the behaviour of the entire coterie of MSPs. They acted like spoiled primary school children who did not get their own way - and this rabble is what is supposedly governing our country.

They have brought utter disgrace to Scotland. The Presiding Officer even had trouble trying to control them. They should all attend behavioural management training to learn that pointing, slapping desks and shouting is not acceptable.

Roy Moffat,

Bollyglosh, Gilmerton, Crieff.

NOW that we have been told that while this is not the time for a referendum it’s a great time for an election, we can expect the matter of the national designation of political parties on ballot papers and the like to assume even greater importance, with consequent disagreement. I wonder if the following proposal might solve the problem.

If a supermarket based in Westminster were to put raspberries on sale in Scotland and, to attract Scottish customers, ensured that the package bore the label “Scottish”, the supermarket would be in trouble when it was found out that they had in fact been grown in Somerset. However, if the package said “British” no one could complain, Somerset being as much in Britain as Scotland, geographically. The same applies to political parties.

Only those whose roots are in Scotland can correctly use “Scottish “ in their title. That covers the SNP, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Christian Party. Ukip is quite simply and honestly Ukip. All the others are British parties, taking orders on policies formulated in Westminster and Whitehall, and should say so, otherwise they may be in danger of misleading the voting public.

To make a geographical distinction in their dealings with Scotland, I would therefore suggest that these parties revive the Victorian designation of Scotland as “North Britain” and use that on all election literature; we would then have a chance to vote for the North British Conservative and Unionist Party et al. Any supporters of these parties could then be out and proud as North Britons. Everyone, no matter of what political conviction, would know exactly what policies were being sold to them and by whom and the problem would disappear.

Brian Patton,

Foulden Bastle, Foulden, Berwickshire.

IAIN Clarke (Letters, April 20) must have been watching a completely different Prime Minister’s Questions to the one I watched on Wednesday. I found that she did not actually answer any questions, merely reiterated the same old statements and to make matters worse she compounded her failings by launching personal attacks on the Labour questioners, and I am not even a Labour voter. She's no better than milk-snatcher Thatcher.

John Aitken,

87 Windsor Avenue, Falkirk.