LETTERS

MPs’ childish antics

WILL First Minister Nicola Sturgeon please instruct her MPs in Westminster to stop acting like yobs and embarrassing themselves and Scotland in the eyes of the world?

The childish antics of Hannah Bardell and Pete Wishart might just confirm that we are the Third World country we appear to be becoming under the auspices of the SNP.

JOHN McLEAN, Cumnock, Ayrshire. PETE WISHART asked the Prime Minister to evaluate her Brexit performance using ‘a scale of one to ten’.

He then held up a placard with ‘nul points’, apparently not bright enough to know ‘nul’ is not between one and ten.

Though he no doubt thinks he’s very clever, are the voters of Perth and North Perthshire content that a man willing to squander time on clowning is their MP?

STEVEN JACKSON, Edinburgh. VULCAN salutes, raps, and ‘nul points’ placards. We know the SNP holds Westminster in contempt, but why must the Scots they represent suffer the indignity of their idiotic stunts in the Commons?

JANE DONALD, Dunfermline, Fife. YET again, another juvenile stunt by Nationalist MP Pete Wishart, with a card showing ‘nul points’.

It’s a pity 22 more votes for the Tories in Perth would have seen the back of this embarrassment as an MP.

ALLAN RODGER, Troon, Ayrshire.

Ability comes first

THERESA MAY’S reshuffle shows she is obsessed with attracting younger voters from the Labour Party.

Instead of choosing ministers on the basis that they are experienced and capable in their allotted roles, the emphasis was on ensuring women and ethnic minorities are well represented.

I don’t care how the Cabinet is made up in terms of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation, I just want the best politicians the country has to offer.

But I do not believe we will get this until we dispense with politically correct ideas and select ministers according to ability, enthusiasm and suitability for the post.

FRANK ADAMSON, Northampton. IF Theresa May thinks she will persuade Labour voters to vote Tory by choosing her junior ministers according to their sex or ethnic background, she has as much chance as Marks & Spencer in trying to woo youngsters into their stores. BOBBIE FARRELL, Portishead, Somerset. IF Theresa May really wanted her Cabinet to be ‘more like the country’, she would have appointed more Leavers than Remoaners.

DENIS SHARP, Hailsham, E. Sussex. IF women make up 50 per cent of the nation, then half of Theresa May’s ministers should be men with, according to Census figures, 14 per cent from an ethnic minority. Mrs JOSE H. O’WARE,

Methwold, Norfolk.

Failing our children

LIKE the disastrous Named Person plan and chaotic Police Scotland, the SNP has circled the wagons over the Curriculum for Excellence.

All the independent evidence is that standards are slipping in schools because of it, but there can never be an admission of failure from the infallible SNP.

Children’s futures are being wrecked, but better that than a red face for Nicola Sturgeon, it seems.

A. BURNS, Glasgow.

Mixed messages

THE SNP does appear to be taking one step forward and two steps back on independence.

As Graham Grant (Mail) says, one minute there’s a big love-in to try to woo No voters and the next you have elected SNP officials calling you rude names for voting No.

STUART GUTHRIE, Edinburgh.

Missing voices

IN order to ‘better reflect the country it serves’, in the words of a Downing Street spokesman, my research finds that the Tory Party would need to attract 45 per cent more ethnic candidates.

This has been calculated from an examination of the 71,284 candidates who stood in local government elections between 2014 and 2017.

Analysis of 750,000 candidates since 1973 shows that not all minorities are equally engaged in local party politics. Among the least involved are the Cantonese Chinese and Black African communities.

British Sikhs are more engaged than British Hindus, but both are less engaged than British Muslims. The most engaged are the Jewish and Armenian communities.

If members of a community live close together in a neighbourhood, this tends to encourage their

engagement in local politics. And people from religious backgrounds based on the interpretation of a holy book — Muslims, Jews and Christians — seem more disposed to political engagement than members of religions that emphasise contemplation and inner development.

All food for thought for our political leaders. Professor RICHARD WEBBER,

London N6.

Paying for each other

THE fact that workers are facing a £120 a year hike in National Insurance (Mail) reflects the fact that contributors pay the pensions of those who are retired.

Today’s employees will receive the amount due to them when they are eligible, based on the criteria imposed during their working career. While you work you are supporting old people and when you retire the same will happen for you. It’s a charitable act of which we should all be proud.

JOHN DENTRY, Thatcham, Berks.

Blowing hot and cold

WITH this cold weather, the Scottish Government will have to decommission some wind turbines to restore global warming. J.L. MUMFORD, Bathgate,

West Lothian.

Shambles at Radio 2

WHY is Radio 2 axing longstanding presenters including Paul Jones and his popular The Blues Show (Mail)?

As former Manfred Mann frontman, Paul Jones was involved in the Sixties revival in Britain and met and played with many of the legends of blues music.

It’s bad enough having Sounds Of The Sixties with Tony Blackburn starting at 6am on Saturdays. As for Sara Cox, she has a good knowledge of music, but her accent grates. Would Lord Reith have given her an interview? GRAHAM POTTER, Bournemouth. WHAT a joy the Radio 2 Breakfast Show has been since Christmas with Sara Cox presenting. Now Chris Evans is back, it’s just drivel again. HELEN PENNEY, Longborough, Glos.