The SNP has made Scotland’s political debate more deeply divided than ever, with a sequence of leaders who have in turn undermined the office of First Minister with unacceptable personal behaviour, blatant manipulation of the public with ill-judged populist grand pronouncements that have rarely if ever been delivered upon, and a cynical undermining of important checks and balances of our democracy as they have brazenly brushed off assorted scandals and gross failures in governance.
Worst of all, if recent opinion polls are to be believed, the SNP leadership has hoodwinked a substantial proportion of the Scottish electorate into not punishing the SNP for its litany of shortcomings and broken promises. If the 2026 Holyrood election delivers anything but major losses for the SNP then we will have collectively failed to ensure incompetence and a cynical brand of politics gets its just deserts.
Wherever you sit on the political spectrum, and whatever your view on Scotland’s constitutional future, rewarding bad government is surely the worst choice for Scotland.
Keith Howell, West Linton.
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An unashamedly populist Budget
YOU report John Swinney’s view that “voters would struggle to understand why … [his budget was] blocked … to prove some nebulous – and ultimately highly damaging – political point” (“Business body urges MSPs to back Robison’s Budget”, The Herald, January 6). This, according to him, would risk “feeding the forces of anti-politics and populism”.
Mr Swinney himself is playing politics here, par excellence. A budget is by definition about making choices about taxes and spending, and there is nothing more political: this is what politics is all about.
The First Minister is effectively pretending that his spending plans are somehow above or beyond politics, and other parties are in the nebulous and highly political mire if they oppose his plans with their own.
On top of that, if other parties stand by their own spending plans, instead of his, they are lining up with the far right, encouraging “anti-politics and populism”.
This is deeply ironic. Mr Swinney’s political rhetoric is anti-politics as it tries to delegitimise opposition, and his Budget, as so much of nationalist politics, is unashamedly populist.
Linda Holt, Anstruther.
Farage shows he’s not for sale
NIGEL Farage was too trusting of Elon Musk who thought he could control him, as he wants to control the political narrative in the US (“Musk in broadside at Reform’s Farage”, The Herald, November 6). But Nigel Farage has shown he is not up for sale and has principles and will stick with them and will keep the extreme right out of Reform.
One of the problems Britain has had over recent decades is being too close to America and its seemingly endless wars for regime change. British political parties shouldn’t suffer interference from Americans, Russians or anyone else.
William Loneskie, Lauder.
Lay off Kate Forbes
I AM neither an SNP supporter nor a member of any church, but I’m heartily sick of seeing Kate Forbes unfairly criticised, as in today’s article by Gemma Clark (“Scotland faces a right-wing threat to women’s rights as election looms”, The Herald, January 6). Ms Forbes replied honestly to a hypothetical question about same-sex marriage in a way which reflects her view about marriage as a Christian sacrament, rather than her views about gay and lesbian people. Similarly the fact that she personally would not choose to have an abortion does not affect her acceptance of the democratic views of Scottish people that it should be legal.
Kate Forbes is an adult politician, who can differentiate between her own personal moral code, and the “will of the people”. She is a democrat.
Sadly not all Scottish politicians understand the difference between their role and their personal views. I see Patrick Harvie has suggested the First Minister should refuse to meet Donald Trump should he come to Scotland. I deplore the President-elect as much as anyone does, for many reasons, and Mr Harvie is free to criticise his politics and his actions as much as he likes. The fact remains that he was elected by the democratic processes of the USA, and as such his role ( if not his person) needs to be respected.
I imagine Patrick Harvie sees his stance as principled opposition. I’m inclined to label it as arrogant intransigence, a luxury actual politicians can’t afford.
Joan Hoggan, Blanefield.
The damage done by Thatcher
RE John Birkett’s letter (January 6): Margaret Thatcher was a typical middle-class capitalist with a poor opinion of the working classes whether in private industry or public service. She sold off our public utilities, partly to make the resultant shareholders into Tories. Eventually most utility companies were owned by investment groups or overseas companies. The river pollution problem is just one of the results of this policy.
House ownership was another vote-catching project so she allowed the sale of council houses at low prices. The failure to provide replacement council stock has lead to the present lack of economic housing for young and old. (The increase in numbers of single parents has exacerbated this problem.) Brexit was a middle-class English proposal to eliminate law-making by the EU, using migration as an excuse. No thought of detrimental effects to trade or our workforce in healthcare, agriculture or tourism was given in this rush for supposed fiscal freedom.
However Mr Birkett is correct in criticising bank deregulation and PFI, but were they not just an expansion of Thatcher’s capitalist philosophy?
JB Drummond, Kilmarnock.
Kate Forbes (Image: PA)
Take NHS out of politics
PETER MacMahon (“The SNP was on the verge of reforming the NHS… but was blown off course”, The Herald, January 4) claims that Michael Matheson, a previous Cabinet Secretary for Health, was seriously considering fundamental change before he resigned. However, giving serious consideration to something as complex as the £20 billion NHS is not the same as grinding out a successful delivery programme that could take several years.
Politics in Scotland is too often about making and winning arguments. Policies are judged not by their outcomes but by their intentions. A good policy is one that secures positive media headlines for a minister, scores points against political opponents and can be quietly forgotten if it fails to deliver.
NHS Scotland has been beset for too long by the malaise of being a political football, but the people of Scotland deserve much better. Since devolution, there have been 12 NHS cabinet secretaries, each of whom has trumpeted policies and initiatives, while over the same period allowing the service to become overstretched, under-invested in, over-defensive, poorly governed and in need of radical reform.
Ironically, there is broad cross-party consensus on a number of key issues, including the need for a patient-centred approach with high levels of clinical care and safety. The principle of “free at the point of delivery” is still generally supported – although financial reality suggests that some level of engagement with the private sector and charging for certain services will be required. Everyone wants the NHS to be a good employer. No-one would argue against making best use of public funds – and transparent governance and accountability are a given along with greater use of digitisation and artificial intelligence. Together, they provide a positive platform for constructive dialogue.
This letter is a plea for party leaders to publicly confirm in the national interest that there is an urgent need for radical reform of the NHS in Scotland and to acknowledge that it needs to be approached on a bipartisan basis to have any chance of succeeding.
If we want a strengthened NHS and a healthier Scotland, it cannot be left to the government of the day.
Sir Ewan Brown, Edinburgh.
• I ENJOYED reading Peter MacMahon’s article on NHS reform.
No discussions should be led by the Auditor General: his/her job is to check the books, not attempt to dictate policy.
We deserve a proper service, based on improving (not rationing) how health and social care are delivered. I think this should be decided locally through councils and health boards.
Allan McDougall, Neilston.