Monteith’s Tory Party spin can’t mask the truth behind Corbyn’s message

Once upon a time Margaret Hodge banned Baa Baa Black Sheep from Islington primary schools because of racist overtones and now Jeremy Corbyn has promised to pay off student debts if elected.

Both stories came from the Tory party press office, both are lies issued in the hope that if repeated often enough they assume the power of truth.

It says it all that, as Brian Monteith’s article races towards its headline conclusion, the only connection its author can make between Corbyn and the current Venezuelan government is a piece of crude Tory party spin (‘Our young voters must take great care in what they wish for’, Scotsman, August 7).

For the record, Corbyn made no such promise, but in one interview (NME) recognised that student debt was a problem for young people to which he could see no obvious solution. Sadly it was not and has never been party policy.

As for the article’s eulogy to the free market, perhaps Gordon Brown’s deregulation of the city, the financial crisis and the paying of bankers debts might offer a clue as to why the majority of people, young and old, once again welcome state intervention to protect and enhance the quality of their lives and why the Labour Party has shifted to reflect that aspiration.

ROBERT RAE Almondbank Terrace,

Edinburgh Jeremy Corbyn’s wishywashy response to events in Venezuela was eerily reminiscent of the post-second World War period.

His mantra of ‘’meaningful talks’’ being the answer is ironically meaningless and could be translated as the most powerful will win.

In the later 1940s and early 50s, those on the far left of British politics were reluctant to criticise the Soviet Union or Stalin in any way at all.

Even when details and indisputable proof of the atrocities and camps in the Soviet Union were produced, the far left chose to ignore and did not utter a word of sympathy for those affected, simply blaming the Western media for their anti-soviet views and insisting the palpably true evidence of the horrors of the Soviet regime were lies.

In the same way as Jeremy Corbyn today, they were reluctant to criticise in any way their fellow travellers. Some things never change.

ALEXANDER MCKAY New Cut Rigg, Edinburgh