Lacking leader

Phil Tate’s paean to Richard Leonard merely replicates the hopes placed on the six other Labour branch office mangers in Scotland during the past ten years (Letters, 29 November). Labour remains divided as none of their Scottish MPS backed Ian Murray’s House of Commons amendment to keep Scotland in the European customs union while many of the Labour leadership voted with the Tories for a hard Brexit. That is why, despite the worst Prime Minister in living memory, Labour has failed to build a lead in opinion polls.

Also, the record of previous Labour Executives in Scotland or that of the Labour government in Wales, particularly on health or fighting Tory austerity, is pretty appalling when compared to the SNP’S performance in government. Many of his “new ideas” are pinched from established SNP commitments such as a public sector Scotrail bid, giving councils the power to run buses and establishing a public sector energy company.

Richard Leonard may be strong on rhetoric but his grasp of detail is sadly lacking – in his first speech as leader he demanded Scottish Water be put in the hands of the Scottish public, where it has been for some considerable time. As a Union official, he failed to speak out on the 12-year fight by women campaigning for equal pay from Labour-run Glasgow Council without any union backing.

He is quoted as saying Labour has to be more like the Yes movement but was an active campaigner for the No campaign, preferring Tory rule from Westminster. Ergo he has no faith in the ability of the people of Scotland to run their own affairs and deliver a fairer, more progressive nation like our Scandinavian neighbours.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh