Scottish Daily Mail

Ministers guilty of creating soft-touch shambles

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IT seems spurious to reduce the murder of Craig McClelland (Mail) to a political issue, but it is politics and politician­s which hold the key as to why his killer was free to roam the streets. There can be no doubt that Mr McClelland’s death is a direct result of SNP policy to go soft on serial offenders. That Police Scotland is now so stretched, again due to SNP policy, is also a contributo­ry factor in its failure to apprehend him sooner. The rehabilita­tion of offenders may be a noble aim, but criminals and thugs first have to realise what faces them if they refuse to be change their ways and it should not be the SNP’s soft-touch justice. The first duty of any government is to keep the public safe but Nicola Sturgeon and her Cabinet of incompeten­ts are failing in this basic duty at every level. People throughout Scotland are weary of the First Minister continuall­y pandering to the SNP membership and their conference motions. The SNP is not Scotland and it’s time Miss Sturgeon decided whether she is First Minister or just the No.1 Nat. PHIL JOHNSON, Bishopton,

Renfrewshi­re. CRIMINALS do not fear being caught and do not fear being jailed in the unlikely event of being caught. That is the reality of Scottish justice under Michael Matheson.

ARCHIE BUCHANAN, Glasgow. WHeNeVeR a politician says ‘lessons SCOTLaND’s Justice Secretary seems blind to, or is ignoring, the facts about crime. When I was at school my english teacher would sometimes put a comment at the end of my essay: ‘Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.’ Could I suggest Michael Matheson and our police do the same after reading Saturday’s essay on crime?

KEITH NORTH , via email. will be learned’ the poor old public hear the sound of a stable being firmly bolted behind a long-gone horse. So it is with the tragic killing of Craig McClelland (Mail). Lessons learned too late will not put him back in the arms of his family.

ELEANOR GORDON, Perth.

 ??  ?? Policy makers: Miss Sturgeon and Mr Matheson
Policy makers: Miss Sturgeon and Mr Matheson

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