Sir, – Soon after Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that she will be seeking a second independence referendum, a wag on Twitter commented that it was a fine way to bury the bad news about education in John Swinney’s constituency.
The Courier reported earlier in the day that the principal of Blairgowrie High School has written to parents to ask if any can step in to provide cover for missing maths teachers.
Of course, the tweeter was joking. After all, no day passes without some damning statistic or story about the SNP’s failure to improve, or even halt the decline in, public services in health, education or policing and the corresponding growth in inequality in Scotland.
But the serious point is that the SNP have always used the issue of independence and the grievance agenda to distract everyone, including themselves, from the everyday business of government: the creation and implementation of policies which will improve people’s lives.
Now Ms Sturgeon has blasted a second referendum to the top of the political agenda at Holyrood and Westminster, supercharging the distraction until autumn 2018 or spring 2019 or even later.
On the doorsteps, people are vehement that they don’t want a second referendum.
They’ve had enough of referenda, enough of the uncertainty and division they engender and enough of the SNP neglecting the day job. Even nationalists are unhappy.
Of course, May’s council elections will now be dominated by the referendum.
The SNP are already treating the election as an opportunity to support an independence referendum. It is no such thing, of course. Rather it is the opportunity to select councillors whose sole job is to represent the residents of their wards in local government.
Put another way, it is the job of councillors to create and implement policies which will improve people’s lives (within the limitations of local government power of course). Real success at that job is likely to elude those obsessed with agitating for independence.
The SNP have been notoriously slow in selecting their local government candidates, and are known to discourage too much involvement in local issues on the grounds that it could damage a vote based on nationalist grounds alone.
Certainly the poor attendance record at Fife Council meetings and community councils, and sparse engagement in local issues, by some SNP councillors in Fife bears this out.
Teacher recruitment isn’t just a serious problem in Mr Swinney’s constituency.
It affects schools across Scotland.
In Fife I was shocked to discover that subjects like art and geography could not be offered at Higher level at one school because it could not find anyone to teach them.
Resource constraints meant the same school could also only offer one foreign language, French.
Some people may feel this doesn’t matter much, but if your child is a budding linguist or wants to pursue art as a career or geography as a degree, it’s grim.
And it is certainly not acceptable for a state education system in an advanced economy in the 21st Century.
Linda Holt.
Dreel House,
Pittenweem.
Time to let young have say
Sir, – According to one weekend report, the over 60s of which I am one, would vote overwhelmingly against independence.
The reasoning I gather is that we, in our age group have this vast knowledge of understanding on these matters far out passing those of younger generations.
When it came to defending our land during the First and Second World Wars, however, we considered it only right that mainly the young should burden this responsibility and in troubled times abroad when our country’s security is possibly at stake, it is the same young people who should undertake these tasks to protect us and our countries interests.
Again, when it comes to representing our nation in sporting activities, we actually applaud them for their success and we leave it totally to the young of our nation to continue to provide us with offspring for future generations.
Our generation has made many serious errors of judgment and we only have to look at the current situation to see we continue to do so, hence, is it not time for us oldies to stand back and let the young of our nation have their say as it is also more their future than ours and you never know, they may just have it right?
Ron Blanchard.
177 Kinghorn Road,
Burntisland.
Visions and wishful thinking
Sir, – An opinion poll with a 50-50 result on independence, reminds us that Scotland is deeply divided over the issue of separation from the rest of the UK.
No one can predict with any confidence the outcome of another referendum just now.
Yet the SNP should not be comforted by this latest poll. It comes after eight months of relentless grievance from the SNP leadership over the Brexit result and what they have chosen to portray as UK Government intransigence in response to their ultimatums.
The new referendum campaign will see a sharp focus on what the SNP’s vision of independence in Europe would really entail.
Many who have supported independence in the past will be sceptical of how EU membership will enable prosperity and a new self-determination.
The reality of Scotland’s current economic position combined with the demands of satisfying EU joining conditions and being a small player in the EU’s ever closer union project, suggest no such panacea would be on the horizon for the foreseeable future.
Nicola Sturgeon will once again be depending on wishful thinking and assertion. Will the people of Scotland be prepared to listen?
Keith Howell.
White Moss,
West Linton.
In business of the blame game
Sir,- As a rare opinion poll suggests as many as 50% of us may support Nicola Sturgeon’s ambition to partition the UK, nationalists are cock-a-hoop. Understandably.
But this raises the question, after 10 years of SNP government, why have only just a small handful of polls ever been in favour of separatism?
The SNP establishment work tirelessly towards their principal goal – not managing Scotland effectively but breaking up the UK.
There are the softer cultural issues, such as an iterative refocus of the education curriculum from British to Scottish, Gaelic signposts in parts of Scotland where no one has ever spoken Gaelic and the eradication of British from public institutions and services – British Transport Police being the current target.
Then there’s the daily blame game. Nearly 20 years after devolution commenced and in power since 2007, the SNP’s response to their track record of failure is “it wisnae me”; it’s the UK Government’s fault.
Martin Redfern.
Royal Circus,
Edinburgh.
Currency an unknown
Sir, – Do those in favour of separating Scotland from the UK know in which currency they will be paid in an independent Scotland, whether they are in receipt of wages, pensions or benefits?
Do they know in what currency they would pay their bills, including mortgages?
No. I don’t, either.
Jill Stephenson.
Glenlockhart Valley,
Edinburgh.
Majority claim a spurious one
Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon claims she speaks for the people of Scotland and that the majority of Scots voted for the SNP in 2016.
This is wrong. The number of voters in Scotland in 2016 was 4.1 million. There was only a 55.6% turnout – 2.28 million. The SNP got a minority 44.1% of the votes cast which was 1.05 million. The population of Scotland is 5.4 million which is why most Scots rightly insist Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP do not speak for them.
Donald Lewis.
Pine Cottage,
Beech Hill,
Gifford.