Political history

Alexander Mckay has allowed his extreme antipathy to cloud his recollection of political history (Letters, 15 June).

In 1979, following a majority vote for devolution, Jim Callaghan was placed in an impossible situation by his own antidevolution MPS who insisted

the Prime Minister had to adhere to the infamous 40 per cent rule, which meant that even the votes of dead people counted as No.

When Margaret Thatcher learned that the Liberals and SNP intended to enter a vote of no confidence, she exercised her prerogative as leader of the Opposition to hijack the SNP motion. At the time, Jim Callaghan quipped that: “She had discovered the courage of their convictions” and had in mind MPS such as Brian Wilson and George Cunningham when he asked if they “ever reflected on the damage they had done to their party and the country” by ushering in an era of Thatcherism.

These are the facts, and they are very different from Alexander Mckay’s version of history. Mr Mckay asserts that standing up for all of us to protect that hard-won devolution set up by another famous leader of a Westminster walkout, Donald Dewar, will cost the SNP MPS their seats.

Well, the fact that more than 5,000 people have joined the SNP since Westminster demonstrated its scorn for Scotland would appear to give the lie to that vain hope.

GILL TURNER

Derby Street, Edinburgh