With great power

Your article “Fury as minister’s assume control of Chinese power plan” shows the pretence is over. The Scottish National Party is getting so desperate to record some success from Nicola Sturgeon’s Chinese trip that it is willing to sacrifice local due process to achieve it.

This is symptomatic of a party which is failing to live up to its manifesto commitments to the electorate. The SNP had promised better education, healthcare and wealth but its policies have been found wanting. This latest debacle is just another mistake.

Proof of the decline of the party is all around. The position of deputy SNP leader has not been hotly contested by the “big names”, showing that it is a poisoned chalice.

The rumbling row over the unwinnable Indyref 2 is tearing the party apart.

The reality is that the SNP has run out of ideas and has failed to substantiate the few it had. More than ten years of power has taken its toll. The party is being kept in office only by support from the minority Green party whose policies are far left of centre. With power comes responsibility. Responsibility has to be administered wisely. Wisdom appears to be sadly lacking in the current administration’s thoughts and deeds.

(DR) GERALD EDWARDS

Broom Road, Glasgow

The Scottish food industry is going through hard times, with many factory closures announced in the last few weeks alone leaving thousands of workers facing the dole and a bleak future for some poorer areas in Scotland that may never recover.

The questionable and expensive great China tour now underway by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her team should have been cancelled in order to tackle the problems being faced by Scottish businesses and finding some solutions before there are more closures announced.

DENNIS FORBES GRATTAN

Mugiemoss Road Bucksburn, Aberdeen