Put Scotland first

Kezia Dugdale rightly shrugs off all those wanting to talk her down, and comes back on the offensive with a clear call on the First Minister to rule out another referendum for the life of the current Scottish Parliament, which runs to 2021 (‘Sturgeon warned on Indyref2’, 27 September).

Given there has been such a broad divergence of views in the SNP about what she should do, matched by equally varying signals from the First Minister herself on just when another referendum will come, it would indeed be a breath of fresh air for her to say something straightforward and unambiguous on this issue.

In ruling out a second referendum for the foreseeable future, Nicola Sturgeon could then rightly claim that she was doing so for all of Scotland, matching her rhetoric immediately after being appointed First Minister and then again on her party’s 2016 election into government. It would be a clear example of the First Minister putting the country before her party’s ambitions. We all wait in expectation. KEITH HOWELL West Linton Peeblesshire The contrast could not have been more stark. Gordon Brewer of the BBC gave Kezia Dugdale a real grilling on TV this past weekend. She must have been very uncomfortable at times, but she smiled and carried on and made no complaints.

Had it been a leader of another Scottish party subjected to such close questioning there would have been cries of ‘’foul’’ and “bias” and most certainly ‘’spontaneous’’ demonstrations of placard-wielding enthusiasts outside the BBC Scotland offices.

ALEXANDER MCKAY New Cut Rigg, Edinburgh

May I remind your readers that there is no such legal entity as “The Scottish Labour Party” – the Labour Party in Scotland is 100 per cent part of the UK Labour Party. A very honest and honourable status. So the concept of “The Scottish Labour Party” is a delusion conceived by a shallow minded clique of quasi-scottish Nationalists who happen to be members of the UK Labour Party.

The absurdity of the use of the word “Scottish” as applied to the Labour Party in Scotland was more than adequately demonstrated at both the recent Referendum and General Elections when the Scottish electorate saw through the transparent nonsense of the Labour Party candidates in Scotland trying to wear two hats; UK and Scottish Nationalist.

We all know the result – now only one Labour MP representing a Scottish constituency.

Have the Labour Party in Scotland learned nothing from the debacles of the recent referendum and General Election? From recent press reports? No. Thus they, the Labour Party in Scotland, continue with the delusion that they are “The Scottish Labour Party”.

It’s a recipe for electoral disaster and political oblivion.

ROBERT M DUNN Oxcars Court, Edinburgh