IT seems apposite at this time of fevered speculation on our future in Europe to quote the great French leader and hero Charles de Gaulle, the man who knocked Britain back as emphatically as a modern-day Eurovision Song Contest jury.
“I have come to the conclusion,” he said,” that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” In Scotland, at least, there is no chance of that happening. We must be one of the most politically engaged countries on the planet, as The Herald’s mailbag regularly attests.
When I last occupied this slot, three weeks ago, I wrote that 80 per cent of the letters we received were concerned with Brexit and a possible second independence referendum. That needs to be amended, particularly since the middle of last week: that 80 per cent is now taken up with Europe, independence and the trifling matter of a General Election.
Many letters roll all three issues into one, which is part of the reason we have run so many Letters Specials over the last 10 days; it is difficult to tease out different strands when the subjects are so intertwined. We were able on Tuesday, and again yesterday, to carry separate packages on the two-child benefit cap and the so-called rape clause, but these occasions have lately been the exception rather than the rule. I think it makes for easier reading when the arguments are presented together, one following on from another, so that the discourse is linear. I like to think that when you read a Herald Letters Page, you are presented with a balanced debate.
Interestingly, and probably regrettably, the General Election has completely overshadowed next Thursday’s local authority vote. We have had very few letters that have been concerned with how our councils are run, but perhaps that will change next week.
The high level of political awareness is reflected in the number of new correspondents we have been able to publish. As I have mentioned here before, we will try to give priority to our newbies. Again, though, a quick run-through of some our conventions: no more than 500 words, please include addresses, and try not to abuse your fellow letter writers. Politicians are fair game, of course.
Email is fine, as are letters received through the post, though of course there is an inbuilt time lapse there (and I’m not just referring to the fact that we have to type them in). If you are writing by hand, please take pity on my ageing eyesight. There have been times when I have been about to transcribe a 300-word letter, only to be undone by an indecipherable signature and a lack of contact details.
Perhaps, though, even General De Gaulle would have admitted that concentrating solely on politics would be dull indeed. Thankfully, our readers have kept us entertained with such topics as the curious matter of royal houses being named after cakes; namely Battenberg and Coburg, which has led to us another England v Scotland discourse on the matter of gastronomic towns: do Eccles, Bakewell and Banbury outrank Dundee cakes and Killie pies? The jury says: Non.
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