Letters: Voters firmly rejected the Scots Tory message

Labour's latest bout of infighting has distracted attention from the Tories' worst performance in their entire history and if those Labour politicians now worried about their career prospects want to represent the views of constituents over Brexit then we must have the opportunity to choose our own future rather than one imposed by Westminster.

Mary Thomas,

Edinburgh.

PETER A Russell appears content that although Scotland has voted twice to remain within the EU, in 2016 and now last week, we should meekly roll over and accept the likely and unpalatable fate of being thrown over the hard Brexit cliff. I would remind Mr Russell that at the 2014 independence referendum one of the claims made by the No campaign was that the only way Scotland's place in Europe could be assured was by voting No. That was the real "Great Vote Theft".

Mr Russell claims that "before the EU referendum the SNP said that a vote for it would be a vote against Brexit and not a vote for independence". I have before me the SNP's EU election leaflet which was delivered to every Scottish household; it clearly states: "We'll offer people a choice of a future for Scotland as an independent, European nation."

As the SNP came top of the poll in 30 out of Scotland's 32 local authority areas, and second in the other two, I think that can be taken as a ringing endorsement of the SNP's position on a second independence referendum. Scotland did not vote in 2014 to have her voice silenced, to be ignored and treated as another English county. We were told not only that we would be an equal partner in the Union, but that we could lead the Union. That could be classed as a Great Vote Lie. At the EU referendum Scotland made her distinctive voice heard; it is high time it was listened to with respect.

Ruth Marr,

Stirling.

PETER A Russell states correctly that the EU referendum referred to the UK leaving the EU, not Scotland. Nevertheless David Cameron, Sir John Major, Nick Clegg, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, George Osborne et al, stated categorically before the EU referendum, that a differential vote with Scotland (some also referenced Northern Ireland) voting differently from the UK made a second independence referendum more likely and could lead to the end of the UK.

None of those named is a member of the SNP. So it doesn't really matter what was on the ballot paper. The most senior politicians in the UK recognised the significance of a geographically split vote. Indeed about the same time as these comments were made in early June 2016, an article in the New Statesman gave a quote from a Tory MP, that if Scottish votes tipped the balance to Remain while England had voted to Leave, it would lead to an "unprecedented constitutional crisis".

GR Weir,

Ochiltree.

KEITH Howell (Letters, May 29) is naive in hoping that “an end to division and hostility” visited upon us by the Conservative Party is likely or even possible any time soon. The struggle over Brexit has a long way to run.

What is more I, an active campaigner for a No vote in 2014, now must agree with Fraser Grant (Letters, May 29) that Scotland and England are “vastly different countries”. That does not make me a nationalist (yet).

The Conservative (and Unionist) Party has so much for which to answer and shows no sign whatsoever of being able so to do.

John Milne,

Uddingston.

THE political deviousness of the SNP leadership apparently knows no bounds. Nicola Sturgeon encouraged the voters to vote for her party in order to send out a message against Brexit "whether you are for or against independence" and then seeks to utilise the record SNP showing in the EU elections as justifying the further attempt to secure another independence referendum. The deftness involved in adjusting positions to suit political ends is nothing short of remarkable.

Our First Minister stated during the recent election campaign that one of the reasons people turned out to vote SNP was because the SNP was running the country so well in the devolved spheres of government. One has to wonder how that proposition is holding up when one reads about NHS waiting times increasing ("'More staff needed' as NHS waiting times reach record level", The Herald, May 29) and on the same day about nurses having real difficulties in caring for dying patients ("Nurses struggle to look after dying patients due to staff shortages").

One also wonders following all this publicity about support for the SNP and its push for another independence referendum, what has happened to the more than one-third of SNP supporters, according to research, who chose Brexit in 2016. It would appear that they are barely worth a mention by the SNP leadership. Why do they not make their voices heard?

Ian W Thomson,

Lenzie.

YOUR commentary on the SNP's record 37.7 per cent showing in the recent Euro elections ("Sturgeon defends push for Indyref2 after SNP's record 37.7% showing in European elections" The Herald, May 29) should include the fact that its vote count was only 15 per cent of the eligible Scottish registered electoral register of circa four million.

In light of this fact I wonder if the Scottish Government would be minded to move, as Queensland did in 1915, to introduce compulsory voting in these parts so as to try and prove, as it were, an electoral majority for their popularity.

I think not.

Archie Burleigh,

Skelmorlie.

THE SNP’s proposed counter to Brexit is to have Scotland in the EU so that we would no long have trade barriers with our third largest market: the EU. However, that would mean trade barriers with rUK, our largest market. Could someone, from the SNP, explain to me why such a solution to Brexit is not laughable stupidity?

Scott Skinner,

Livingston.