OPPOSITION parties in Scotland really do take the biscuit. They complain continually about the SNP’s record in Government and its handling of the global pandemic. So what an opportunity is afforded through our democracy to the opposition every week at First Minister's Questions when they have the floor and can scrutinise the Government on issues that affect their constituents on a daily basis.

So, we sat back and waited, and waited, as opposition leaders took to the floor on behalf of their constituents. We would have expected to hear questions on the pandemic, on the massive economic crisis in the country, our precious and hard-stretched NHS and social care services, job retention and the impact of Covid in our schools. So exactly what did they question the First Minister on, en masse? They went on about an ongoing inquiry which should be allowed to runs its course, to gather all the evidence and report to parliament ("Parliament at war", The Herald, February 26).

Opposition parties need to ask themselves who are they representing, because from evidence today it would appear they are looking after their own narrow agenda and not their constituents.

Catriona C Clark, Falkirk.

SALMOND AFFAIR IS THE BIG MOVIE

WILLIE Maclean (Letters, February 26) believes that a democratic vote to leave Europe is a “a mere sideshow” compared to any perceived threat to democracy arising from the role of the Crown Office. History tells us that two of the major steps in the destruction of a democracy are gaining control of the media and removing the independence of the judiciary. That’s the big movie, not the sideshow.

John Gilligan, Ayr.

*ONCE upon a time long long ago

Alex and Nicola were the show

Alex to Nicola would say hello

Nicola to Alex would say hello

Now look how they've stooped so low

They talk about the plot and his ego

One thing's for sure – you reap what you sow

It's time to say to both "cheerio"

Daniel Gardner, Bearsden.

LABOUR NEEDS TO JOIN COALITION

SINCE the 2014 independence referendum the Labour Party has claimed that the reason for its demise in Scotland is due to working with the Scottish Conservatives & Unionists during that campaign.

Labour is hiding from the truth. Its demise has been caused by several issues, including poor and extremist leadership, compounded by unappealing policies and ambivalence about the Scottish nationalists' plans for separation. In the 2019 General Election it was prepared to do a deal with Nicola Sturgeon and would do so again.

Labour’s insular approach was exposed after the two Labour candidates for the Scottish Party leadership both refused an offer from Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative & Unionist leader, to work together on a "unionist coalition" to stop independence after the Scottish elections in May.

Labour should stop blaming others for its demise and instead should co-operate with the other pro-Union parties to expose the flaws of the SNP’s independence arguments. Failure to do so could result in a second unjustified independence referendum.

Despite the imminent unveiling of a new leader, Labour will still be stuck with the same old problem: it cannot be trusted to safeguard Scotland's place in the UK.

Tim Jackson, Gullane.

LIBDEMS' LOFTY AMBITIONS

I HAVE just received an election brochure from Willie Rennie on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. One of the five main bullet points in his “positive plan for Scotland” is to “reform the UK to give Scotland a bigger say with federalism and have a close relationship with our neighbours in Europe".

Lofty ambitions for the Scottish Liberal Democrats to reform the UK.

This statement does smack a little of the now largely discredited “Vow” which was cobbled together at short notice by desperate people who should have known better.

Mr Rennie presumably has the intellectual horsepower to accept that our friends south of the Border are not going to rejoin the EU any time soon.

It therefore seems to me that there is only one viable way that the drawbridge can be lowered over the moat currently separating Scotland from Europe.

Stewart Falconer, Alyth.

STOP THE BLATANT ELECTIONEERING

ONCE again the SNP has displayed a staggering level of gall in making dramatic public announcements at times scheduled purely to distract from the serious issues which it should be addressing.

While public interest peaks around the Alex Salmond case and Nicola Sturgeon’s role therein, Jeane Freeman decided to announce an “interim” pay rise for NHS staff – a further distracting bribe following the £500 UK-funded bonus – which has never before been applied at this stage of the year, and which also will be effective from last December, again an element never-before included ("Most Scots fear nurse numbers too low", The Herald, February 25).

Appallingly, given the huge UK funding which has benefited NHS Scotland this past year, Ms Freeman announced that this pay rise is being done now to compensate for the “UK budget delays”.

This blatant use of public funds for electioneering and misleading voters is quite unacceptable by the SNP, but sadly appears now to be standard practice.

Steph Johnson, Glasgow.

HEED THE BENEFITS OF BREXIT

GETTING close to 40 per cent of the people of the UK have been given at least one anti-coronavirus vaccination. In Germany, Spain, France, Italy and other EU countries the figure is closer to four per cent.

I voted Remain in 2016 and was sorely disappointed at the time that the referendum was lost, but I accepted without question the democratic choice. Now we can see and experience the benefits of the UK having more leeway to act as it would wish and would not have had if it remained. It may well save many lives.

Would the SNP please take careful note and think of where it would be in the EU pecking order in similar circumstances, that is if by some miracle a separated Scotland ever managed to join.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh EH6.

* I WAS delighted to have receive my first dose of the coronavirus vaccine this week. I was given the Oxford vaccine and it was injected by a young Army medic from Suffolk. Unfortunately, I cannot yet begin to plan my summer holiday because the Scottish route out of lockdown is not at all clear. Not that it matters: the ferry that should carry me to my holiday destination is still stuck in a shipyard on the Clyde. Now where is my ballot paper for the election on May 6...

John Wilcox, Carluke.

JOHNSON DID SUPPLY DATES

STAN Grodynski (Letters, February 25) obviously did not listen carefully to Boris Johnson’s announcements when our PM gave his briefing on Monday of this week. He accuses the PM of being deceitful in pronouncing the importance of data over dates when he then went on to specify dates for the ending of lockdown. Mr Johnson made it perfectly clear that if the data is not there to allow a restriction to be lifted then it will not happen. He was supported at that briefing by Professor Chris Witty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of the UK. Your readers must not be misled by Mr Grodynski’s inaccurate interpretation of the lockdown plans that have been laid out for England.

I am a Scot living in England.

Ray Marshall, Ilkley.

SHORT-CHANGING THE COUNTRY

YOUR Business HQ article ("£100m wind farm deals underline scale of investor interest in Scottish assets", The Herald, February 25) certainly lives up to its headline, centring on schemes near Stirling, South Lanarkshire and Dumfries & Galloway, involving acquisitions by parties based in London and China. A 50 per cent stake in the 72MW Braes of Doune Windfarm cost the buyer £48 million which gives some indication of the worth of these assets. Coupled with this, I note that the Dunblane Development Trust receives community benefit of £15,000 a year whereas £5,000 per MW per year might be more realistic nowadays.

A few years ago when guiding a group of foreign visitors experiencing the vista from the top of the Wallace Monument, one of them asked me: “Why are you doing this to your beautiful country?”, for which the investors in London and China clearly have an answer.

Surely I am not the only person who feels that there is something far wrong here?

John C Hutchison, Fort William.

* A STUDY by environmental groups says that none of the Scottish councils that have declared a climate emergency has stopped investing its pension funds in fossil fuel ("Councils invest millions in fossil fuel firms despite climate fears", The Herald, February 23).

These environmental groups tell us that renewables such as wind turbines can replace fossil fuel, but how do they propose that the raw materials needed for them are to be extracted from the ground without diesel-powered machinery? How will these materials be transported across the seas without oil-powered ships? How will the necessary steel be produced without using coking coal? How will turbine blades be made without fossil fuel products? How will finished turbine parts and transmission cables be transported and erected without diesel-powered trucks and cranes?

Geoff Moore, Alness.

OFF-STREAM

RE the reported warning about the weakening of the Gulf Stream ("Warning as Gulf Stream ‘weaker’", The Herald, February 26), I assume Professor Stefan Rahmstorf has been misquoted, since he must surely know that the oceanic current that ameliorates Western Europe’s winter climate is the North Atlantic Current (or Drift) and not the Gulf Stream. Over-enthusiastic marketing of Scotland’s coastal resorts may be to blame for this widely-held error. Marketing people have a tendency to be elastic with facts, unlike scientists, who must maintain a rigid adherence to them.

Norman McNab, Killearn.

DOWN AT HEELS

I AM comforted to learn that my existential difficulties are as nothing compared to those of Mr Brian May ("Queen icon May says garden provides a balm for his ‘depressive’ tendencies", The Herald, February 26).

He tells us, via Gardeners World: "We have a tiny garden in London, where we spend some time, as my wife doesn't like being anywhere she can't wear high heels."

Aw, diddums.

Irene Conway, Giffnock.

Read more: Letters: It is vital we keep a close eye on the SNP's civil war