WHEN I read yesterday that Kezia Dugdale was about to go walkabout for three weeks ("Dugdale defends jungle trip", The Herald, November 22) at a time when the Scottish Parliament is sitting, I spluttered with indignation into my cornflakes and composed a “Disgruntled of Thornhill” missive to the Letters Pages. I laboured the point that if, as a GP, I had gone off on such a jaunt even for a day without arranging a locum (Ms Dugdale doesn’t have that option), my colleagues might reasonably have asked me: “Who is going to look after the 32 patients booked in to see you?” I could have been asked a similar question if I had been a nurse, dentist, school teacher, policeman, airline pilot, social worker, home help, shop keeper, refuse collector, and so on.

I never sent the letter. It occurred to me, maybe Ms Dugdale is right. Maybe George Osborne was right when he said he could edit the London Evening Standard and stay on as an MP. There is indeed a difference between being a pilot or an anaesthetist, and being a politician. If they all fall asleep, the plane might fall out of the sky, and the patient might never wake up, but the civil service will just keep the ship of state ticking over. Northern Ireland hasn’t had an executive since January and life goes on.

Maybe we should revise our ideas about political service and elect representatives such as doctors or teachers or refuse collectors who do indeed hold down a real job. No need to give up the day job; just make arrangements to be available say three half-days a week. People might take it on, albeit reluctantly but out of a sense of civic duty, and for no more than a single term. Currently, a rich reservoir of knowledge, skill, wisdom, and experience remains untapped. Maybe the whole idea of a career in politics is a busted flush.

Dr Hamish Maclaren,

1 Grays Loan, Thornhill, Stirling.

IT will be easier for Kezia Dugdale to swallow whatever jungle delicacy put before her than it will be for her constituents to take in that the trip is "an amazing opportunity to talk to young people who watch this programme about politics" (according to a BBC report). Really? It's more likely that they will see through this specious justification to the real motive: not much chance of re-election, so let's get some cash into the bank account. That's a perfectly understandable motive for Ms Dugdale in the circumstances, but how about staying at home and talking to – or on behalf of – her constituents?

Brian Chrystal,

55 Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh.

WHAT has happened to this country? Have people stopped caring about what is important?

Millions of Yemeni face the risk of death because of a blockade by the corrupt Saudi-led coalition. Burma forced out hundreds of thousands Rohingya Muslims into the impoverished country of Bangladesh. There are violent protests in Kenya with dozens killed. Hundreds of people have been killed after a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Iran/Iraq border. Dozens of police have been killed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. There has been flash floods in Athens. David Pratt's recent article on the desperate plight of innocent citizens with tens of thousands living in tents in Haji Ali camp ought to make us all weep ("Wounded minds are now stalking the victims of Mosul", The Herald, November 17). Alas, no. We seem to be more interested in Kezia Dugdale's abandonment of her constituents for a jolly in Australia and a chance to sample creepy crawlies.

What has happened to compassion?

Wilf O'Malley,

11 Delnies Road, Inverness.