Listen to John Swinney and you hear Nicola Sturgeon Mk II

THE SNP has decided to try out another First Minister for size, although “re-try” might be closer to it as he did have a go at being SNP leader many years ago and by all accounts did not like it very much. Anyway, we are where we are, and apparently John Swinney is for the time being the best the SNP has to offer.

Some will be reassured by our new First Minister’s “Honest John” persona (“New FM in pledge to ‘create more agreement’ in Holyrood”, The Herald, May

8). Others, however, might have noted that within moments of being confirmed in Scotland’s top job, he knowingly made three promises that he is all but guaranteed to break. Presumably he hopes that enough Scots will continue to prefer SNP rhetoric over the harsh reality of its continuing failures, scandals and missteps.

So when John Swinney says he is going to be First Minister for “everyone” it will have as much meaning as when his then boss Nicola Sturgeon said the same thing on taking on the top job. She then led Scotland into one of the most divisive periods in its history as she time and again favoured her supporters’ dreams for separation over the general public’s yearning for effective public services.

Equally, as Mr Swinney claimed he will make eradicating child poverty his defining mission, some will have heard echoes of Ms Sturgeon’s “judge me on our record in education” commitment, which proved to be utterly meaningless. Indeed, the many in Scotland on NHS waiting lists, or desperate for a ferry service that works, or troubled about the state of their children’s education, might wonder how our new First Minister’s focus on what sounds good rather than on the biggest challenges that they face will merely delay further any hope for them seeing real improvements.

Then there is that “more collaborative and respectful politics” promise. It’s presumably possible that by some quirk in nature a leopard changes its spots, but as the SNP’S heckler in chief for so many years in Holyrood, it is no wonder that this promise from Mr Swinney was met with some disbelief by MSPS. At future FMQS can we look forward to our new First Minister honestly owning up to the part he and his party have played in all the problems Scotland now faces, or will he follow his predecessors’ tactic of deflection and blaming anyone and anything but SNP mismanagement?

Keith Howell, West Linton.

I FULLY applaud John Swinney’s speech as our new First Minister in promising to be a First

Minister for all the people in Scotland. The cold reality however is that Mr Swinney has been one of the main architects of SNP policy for the last 20 years and has brought us to the terrible state that we are in with education and the worst-ever NHS services.

He wouldn’t last five minutes as SNP leader if he started working for the majority of Scottish people who don’t want independence. Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

Consider the alternatives

ALISON Rowat rightly has a bit of fun with John Swinney and the SNP (“This is the new, and slightly more humble, face of the SNP”, The Herald, May 8). She has no room, however, in her article for the alternatives.

We have Anas Sarwar and Douglas Ross, both LINOS (Leader in Name Only and there to be walked over) and both with long undistinguished careers in Westminster and Holyrood. Mr Sarwar was in the room when Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont realised her job title was a joke and quit: Mr Sarwar is aware of his status because he followed on from elected Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard whom Keir Starmer boasted he had sacked. Douglas Ross is no better, as it was reported his leadership was ultimately as a result of murky backroom dealings and he has tied his dinghy to the Ship of Fools, aka the British Conservative Party.

I could mention the Libdems (a party I once voted for), but their politics are entirely based on their British nationalism rather than ideology: happy to be in coalition with Tories or Labour, but not any democratic pro-independence party.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.