WITH the resignation of Liz Truss we are seeing the culmination of many years of the takeover of the Tories by a largish minority of extreme right-wing populists. These people have given us the disaster of Brexit, rendered the Union at its most insecure in my lifetime and made the Tories virtually unelectable. People like Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker are no more like traditional Tories such as Ken Clarke and John Major than black is to white.

The Tories have allowed the tail represented by the ideologues of the ERG to wag the mainstream party dog and in so doing they have probably seen to the Conservatives being out of power for a generation. They may even split into two parties, as it is hard to see how their warring factions can be reconciled.

The only remaining question is when will there be a General Election? It would be a democratic outrage if the Tories attempt to see out the current term, but I would not put it past them.
Nick Robinson, Wemyss Bay

Indy backers must beware

THE not-unexpected news of another impending shift-change at 10 Downing Street has just broken as I write. The likely repercussions of this event need to be considered by those who, like me, support the independence movement in Scotland.

Any General Election in the near future will be bad news for Conservative voters in Scotland. They will know that they face total wipe-out and are likely to repeat their tactics at the last Holyrood election by voting Labour to stop the SNP.

Scottish voters need to remember how Labour stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Tories and LibDems in opposing independence in 2014, the consequences of which led to our southern neighbours voting us out of Europe in 2016. Many SNP voters defected from Labour in recent years due to Labour's support for unionism. A Labour landslide in England would rid Nicola Sturgeon of her detested Tories, but voting Labour in Scotland would perpetuate our democratic dependence on the behaviour of English voters.

If Scottish Labour abandoned its stubborn unionist stance and embraced independence it would be a strong contender for power in an independent Scotland, but for the time being it is likely to be seen as a refuge for disgruntled Tories, posing a threat to the independence movement.
Willie Maclean, Milngavie

This is not democracy

ANARCHY in the UK – it seems we now have “punk” government in the UK. Liz Truss has resigned after a month of fiscal chaos, but in the frame to succeed her will be yet another of the apparently interchangeable “talentless people” (as described on Wednesday night by MP Sir Charles Walker).

Another Tory beauty contest is not democracy. Trust is at an all-time low and Westminster is long overdue reform, but will any ruling party change first past the post or the corrupt (and corrupting) system of patronage through elevation to the Lords? I certainly don’t believe Labour when it claims it will change either, with Sir Keir Starmer’s policy promises lasting about as long as snaw on a dyke.

For Scotland, Adam Tomkins ("The Scottish Tories’ problem isn’t the leader. It’s the policy", The Herald, October 19) nailed it, painting the Scottish Tories as being obsequious yes-men, but they are no more so than any other Scottish unionist politicians. If we don’t get a General Election, we could do worse than install Sir Charles Walker as a caretaker PM in the interim.
GR Weir, Ochiltree

MPs totally out of touch

WHAT a disgraceful show at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday ("Tongue fu fighting: flailing Liz fights back against the chop", The Herald, October 20). It's alarming that these MPs from whatever political persuasion can reduce our Parliament to a "bear pit", shouting and laughing at one another and trying to gain political points through ridicule.

These people were voted in by us.

Having had Oxbridge and Eton education, the best in the land and with vast sums of money spent on them, they are fortunate that they have the finances to stave off whatever catastrophe befalls them. They are totally out of touch with the majority of the population.

Instead of being at each other's throats, they must start dealing with the many problems which they themselves have got us into.
Neil Stewart, Balfron

Something stinks

R RUSSELL Smith's letter (October 19) closes with " Ordure, ordure!". In relation to Roman emperor Vespasian's tax on ordure (details withheld), it was said that the smell of money is good, come whence it may.

Another political commentary on our times?
David Miller, Milngavie

• GIVEN the increasingly febrile state of their own party, I imagine many Conservative MPs, MSPs and grassroots members must surely now be seeking a more rational and credible recipient of their political favour. I can’t help thinking they might feel more comfortable in the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
Iain Stuart, Glasgow

Don't pile disaster on top of failure

IT is no surprise that the nationalist response to the turmoil at Westminster is to demand independence – as they say, when you are a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

The hard reality is that the failure of Trussonomics has shown us exactly what would happen if Scotland attempted its own half-baked economic leap into the unknown – the markets would soon tell us what they think of an experiment based on ideological assertions rather than economic pragmatism. "Let's pile Sturgeonomics on top of Trussonomics" sounds very much like the deranged call of "let's leave the UK as well because leaving the EU has been such a great success".

At the time of the 2014 referendum, the most rational and cogent case put in these pages in favour of independence was that it could bring about a smaller but more agile economic model for Scotland. It was worth considering, but in the end the voters rejected it in favour of a model that provided the greater resilience of the larger and more diverse economy and the established institutional framework of the UK.

We can be very grateful that we did. The alternative would have been a smaller and institutionally weaker economy based on fewer sectors, struggling outside both the UK and the EU with no currency and no central bank of its own to act as the borrower of last resort. And everyone who voted Yes would have been party to the misery that would have followed.
Peter A Russell, Glasgow

How about this for comparison?

THE Scottish Government is always keen to compare its figures with that of the rest of the UK, particularly with regard to the Health Service. It is also citing the advantage of being a member of the EU in the future. There has been a lot of criticism by the Scottish Government along with the press aimed at the UK Government about the high rate of inflation. I appreciate that it is not a good situation but there has been little reference to the fact the EU's inflation rate is 10.9%. It therefore cannot blame everything on the way the UK Government has been handling this crisis.
Richard Wiggins, Prestwick

Let's have indyref every 10 years

THE chaos in Westminster highlights a well-recognised flaw in Holyrood politics. The failing Conservative Government will surely be replaced at the next election. But in Scotland the constitutional issue trumps all other considerations to such an extent that the SNP Government is secure however poorly it performs because voting SNP offers the only route to another independence referendum.

Here's my proposed solution.

The devolution legislation should be amended to remove the requirement for a Section 30 order, replacing it with an independence referendum to be held every 10 years, say, irrespective of the party in power at Holyrood at the time. To incentivise Westminster to agree to this, the hurdle for achieving independence could be set at 60 per cent. An added benefit of this would be the elimination of a dangerously divisive independence based on a 50.1% Yes vote. (Perhaps such a consideration should have been given to the Brexit referendum, but that's another matter.)

Then independence supporters could vote for a party other than an underperforming SNP without negatively affecting the prospects of a referendum happening and voters who favour the Union could vote for a well-performing SNP without encouraging independence. The benefits of normal competition between parties would be restored to Holyrood.
William Muir, Balerno

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