Obviously I’m really disappointed with the election result but have to accept the SNP will form the new government. If it is to take Scotland forward we need to abandon the adversarial style in Holyrood and seek more consensus to focus on the real issues: the economy, housing, employment.
If the SNP wishes to advance its independence argument then it simply has to get the country back on its feet. Get some pride back in our environment, our schools and hospitals. It should involve ALL the other parties in committees and acknowledge that although it won the most seats it dropped almost 10% of its vote.
It needs to show true leadership and magnanimity. The opposition parties must try to seek involvement whilst showing respect for the results.
We need a government that focuses on non-constitutional issues and parks net zero targets as our economy is collapsing rapidly. We need the hospitality industry to have rates reduction urgently. We need to support North Sea oil.
The last thing we need is weekly grandstanding and demands for and against independence referendums. One can but dream.
John Gilligan, Ayr.
• In Scotland sovereignty rests with the people, numbered in their millions, rather than the 129 Holyrood MSPs who are elected to govern us in respect only of those matters devolved from Westminster, which retains responsibility for constitutional matters, amongst others.
All the candidates of whatever political opinion just elected to Holyrood campaigned on multiple issues rather than only on the single issue of for or against independence. Consequently it is ridiculous for those particular MSPs who campaigned in favour of independence as one of their multiple issues to argue now that their election confirms that the settled will of the people demands independence, while ignoring the counter-argument of those elected MSPs who campaigned against independence as one of their multiple issues. Also, only just over 53% of the electorate even bothered to vote, so where in that is there any justification for John Swinney to insist that the election (which in fact returned fewer SNP MSPs) demonstrates the settled will of the people in favour of an unarguable mandate for him to demand Indyref2?
Why can’t so-called “Honest John" Swinney live up to that nickname and his repeated promise to govern for all the people of Scotland, by accepting that his obsession with independence is unrealistic currently, and give us all a break by putting it on the back burner and directing his minority SNP government to focus instead on addressing the many practical problems which are of daily concern to the people? If he will not do that, we are in for another five years of the same old pointless division and manufactured grievance with Westminster, which will do no good to any of us of whatever political persuasion.
Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.
Read more letters
- Consensus is needed, not another independence referendum
- So you voted yesterday? Be proud of your good intentions
- The verdict will be based not on apathy but on disgust
SNP serves only its own
Listening to Màiri McAllan's interview on the BBC confirmed what I always thought... that the SNP only serves its own members and not Scots as a whole.
She dismissed Reform voters in a way that left no doubt that the SNP thought them unable to think through different policies put forward before they voted. The SNP, she said, will not work with Reform despite them having the same number of MSPs as Labour and listed why, mainly mentioning the faults of Nigel Farage (for example, wanting to stop illegal immigration which was a key concern of Scots especially as Glasgow has the largest number in Britain). However, the SNP will work with the Greens but did not mention any of the things Jack Polanski has said which are in my opinion more harmful to Britain (for example, legalising drugs and giving priority for housing over locals to illegal migrants). So if you voted Reform your views will not be heard at any committee making decisions and your views will not help make any decisions about the way Scotland is governed for the next five years. Doesn't sound democratic to me.
Elizabeth Hands, Armadale.
• John Swinney wants to “lock out” Reform UK from potential talks at Bute House with other opposition parties. However he would do better to reflect on why Reform UK won almost 16% of the constituency vote and close to 17% of the regional list vote. Further, 58% of those who voted were for unionist parties and his claim of wanting a kinder and respectful politics seem hollow words indeed.
Richard Allison, Edinburgh.
A sense of hopelessness
Friday was a sad day. Being faced with five more years of failed government in Scotland is depressing – not for me but the next generation and the one following.
I am perplexed to the point of despair that our country and its people have been taken in by political deception and obfuscation of the highest order.
No wonder we evidence the rise of a brand of much-needed alternative politics in the shape of the likes of Reform.
For my generation though, it is no surprise apathy and disillusionment has set in. We have been governed for almost two decades by incompetence of the highest order yet the majority of Scots voters blindly follow an SNP doctrine that defies credibility and common sense.
What will follow over the next parliamentary session in Scotland will be just more of the same... failure and decline. But few seem to care.
As someone in his mid-seventies, I feel anguish and a sense of hopelessness for what lies ahead for our young people. We get what we vote for I guess, and it's not pretty.
NJ Hunter, Ardrossan.
Sleepwalking into trouble
Thankfully Reform did not perform in Scotland to the extent it did in England.
Nigel Farage is Trump-Light and a horrifying thought as PM. Those who voted for Reform may have the same regrets as the MAGA voters in America are now having. Mr Farage's "ordinary man in the pub" image will soon be shattered if he gets into power. How many ordinary men get £5 million from a crypto currency millionaire living in Thailand?
We are about to enter the same disastrous political situation as America and the UK is sleepwalking into it. It could be said that Labour, or at least Keir Starmer, is entirely at fault for this.
Ian Smith, Troon.
Democracy must be upheld
The Holyrood election delivered the SNP a constituency majority of 43 (57 against 14, a ratio greater than 4:1) over the combined unionist forces of the Labour Party, Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and an overall majority of two (58 against 56) after list voting is considered even without the wins of the Scottish Greens. With the constituency and list wins of the Greens included, the Scottish Parliament now has the largest-ever independence majority.
The vote share for the SNP in the constituencies was nearly five per cent higher than the vote share for the Labour Party at the last Westminster election in what was described as a “landslide victory” (providing Labour with pseudo-autocratic control over the UK Parliament). By any measurable semblance of democracy the UK Government does not have a democratic mandate, especially given repeated majorities won by independence parties, to deny the Scottish Parliament the authority to conduct a constitutional referendum at a time of its choosing.
Those who have argued against the hope of the majority of Scotland’s people to determine their own future should now back that authority and begin seriously debating independence or be prepared for even greater economic and social havoc to that caused by Brexit should its shallow soundbite champion become the next UK Prime Minister. In other words, those continuing to argue against democracy should beware.
Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.
• I wonder if George Rennie (Letters, May 1) had not evaded addressing the election results in both England and especially Wales, he may have concluded that the sooner we have an independence referendum the better?
Alan Carmichael, Glasgow.
Who would pay the bill?
The Scottish Independence Referendum 2014 cost £15.8 million, £2.1m over estimate (source, BBC News, September 4 2015).
What is the estimated cost of another one? Who shall provide funds?
I hear only silence.
William Durward, Bearsden.
