Constituency issues must take priority

Dear Editor, I have no time for any Tory celebrity, whether it be Sajid Javid, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson or any other rightwing vulture waiting for the demise of the over-promoted Theresa May.

But that didn’t stop me laughing out loud at Fulton MacGregor’s efforts to fill in some space in his Advertiser column [August 22].

Fulton: it took a Tory home secretary to tell you the facts. As an MSP, immigration is none of your business.

You were elected to a devolved assembly with clearly defined powers, and for the sake of publicity in typical SNP fashion, failed to do the decent thing and leave the matter to the people elected to have that responsibility.

When you were approached, it was your duty to refer the issue to either Hugh Gaffney MP or Neil Gray MP.

Your own article exposed your opportunism when you say “I will take up any issue ... in control of the council, Scottish Parliament or UK parliament”.

What Mr MacGregor really means, in populist fashion, is that he will cherrypick any idea he thinks might gain some votes, and drop everything else – including those for which he does have responsibility – like a hot cake.

What is he doing about the shameful state of the health service when many of his constituents have to wait for weeks to see a GP?

Has he nothing to say about five-yearolds in tears because of John Swinney’s incompetence in running education?

Is he proud of the state of the police service, the constant changes at the top and the plummeting decline in morale among dedicated public servants?

Mr MacGregor has form on these matters. Whatever became of his public meetings when he was going to do great things about Coatbridge town centre? Did he remember that he was a councillor when his colleagues, building on the late Tom Maginnis’ work, were trying to make changes as he appeared to have little interest?

Where does he stand on the NHS Lanarkshire proposals on Monklands Hospital’s location? His Airdrie colleagues are clear, but in the same edition of the Advertiser Mr MacGregor sat on the fence. He said he is listening – would that be to the people of Coatdyke or those in Glenboig and Gartcosh?

Our MSP is merely following the style of his leader, Nicola Sturgeon.

There she is strutting around Europe, pretending to be prime minister of an independent state – the same Scotland which rejected independence and would do so again if she manipulated a second referendum. Preferring to be ruled by Brussels rather than having a say in the UK parliament.

This explains why the SNP bubble is bursting, as are Mr MacGregor’s and Ms Sturgeon’s political futures. Now it is up to the rest of us to prepare to clear up the mess they left behind. James O’Hare, Coatbridge