Sillars may not have all the answers but Sturgeon should listen to his questions

I couldn’t help contrasting Jim Sillars’ joined-up thinking on Scottish Independence, Brexit, economics and education with Nicola Sturgeon’s scattergun, finger in dyke approach.

He didn’t claim to have all the answers, there was much to disagree with, but at least he forms opinions based on his view that “you’ve got to analyse things first before you take a decision” .

On the SNP’S fag packet plans for a national energy company he said it should own the whole supply chain, from drilling well to electric plug, and all energy sources, including fracking,

He repeated his long-held view that polls need to be at 60 per cent Yes – equivalent to 2.4m votes -–before another referendum. The SNP won 977,569 votes in this year’s general election.

It is everyone in Scotland’s problem if, as he believes, Sturgeon is not capable and there is no successor in sight capable of pulling us out of this nosedive into further dependency on the UK.

Our saviour may be on the opposition benches but the power to force an election lies with 13,172 people who, in 2016, voted for the six Green MSPS who keep the SNP in office by extracting deals on fracking and, now, tax rises. What a mess. ALLAN SUTHERLAND Willow Row, Stonehaven Jim Sillars, talking to the BBC, bemoans the fact that our Scottish Government does not have a leadership capable of analysing a situation before publicly proclaiming intended action. He was specifically referring to the ban on fracking. We have also just been informed of the target (ie soundbite) of having only electric cars by 2032.

Scotland has more than two and a half million cars/vans. If electric they would each consume an average of about 20 kilowatt hours per day, and of course, would need that level of charging daily. Suppose that on any night just 10 per cent of owners had to charge their vehicles at a public facility on their way home after work and were willing (some hope!) to spend up to an hour doing so. It is highly likely they would be using the chargers at the same time for part of that period – a charging rate of at least 5 gigawatts.

This and our traditional winter peak, plus a little extra for all the other cars charging at slow rates, will thus amount to, say, a 12GW demand. By 2032 our nuclear will be gone, solar at winter peak is nonexistent and only 2GW at most could be supplied by reliable hydro, which leaves 10GW from other intermittent sources, mainly wind. A sophisticated professional statistical analysis is really needed but my guess is that, to have the usual 99 per cent plus surety of supply, for 10GW from wind turbines we would require an installed capacity of more like 100GW (that’s 20,000 of the biggest off-shore species) scattered widely enough to have very low correlation of wind exposure. And of course, there are also the huge problems of grid distribution and cost.

In conclusion, the likelihood of Scotland having an electriccars-only regime by 2032 is, to say the least, rather remote.

(DR) A MCCORMICK Kirkland Road, Terregles

Dumfries On Sunday Politics Scotland, former SNP leader Jim Sillars rather archly observes that Nicola Sturgeon, as First Minister, has the opportunity to improve. He suggests she is intellectually shallow and that Scottish politics would be improved if all policy making didn’t “come out of her office”.

With friends like Mr Sillars, does the SNP establishment need enemies?

MARTIN REDFERN Woodcroft Road , Edinburgh