SNP leadership

Maureen Henry and Phil Tate (Letters, 21 November) seem to resent the fact that our First Minister is providing leadership on Brexit and the SNP consistent opposition at Westminster when there is none from Jeremy Corbyn and Labour.

Labour’s annual conference backed the “People’s Vote” but you wouldn’t know it, listening to a Labour leadership that won’t call for a vote of no confidence in the Conservative government.

Labour had the chance to defeat the government in Monday’s vote on a new clause to the Finance Bill regarding child poverty when the SNP and the DUP voted against the government, but Jeremy Corbyn failed to turn up and once again Labour let the Tories off the hook.

Having been sold down the river on EU fishing rights to Scottish waters, the Scottish Tory MPS have been shown to be ineffectual, and this week even voted against an SNP amendment to reinstate the £160 million of EU money the UK government syphoned from Scottish farmers. Mundell won’t be missed if he resigns, but motherhood is no excuse for Ruth Davidson’s silence if she really cared about Scotland.

The choice is not Theresa May’s plan or no deal as Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal for a softer Norway-plus solution should command support from all those who think Brexit is bad for the UK and Scotland.

We should appreciate that despite having a mandate for another referendum, Nicola

Sturgeon is putting independence on hold in order to sort out Brexit and it must be devastating for opponents to learn that Spain will not veto an independent Scotland’s place in the EU.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh

Does anyone really believe Nicola Sturgeon is sincere in her claims to seek a “workable alternative” to Theresa May’s deal? She has a vested interest in a hard Brexit.

Ms Sturgeon admits she believes Scottish independence transcends Brexit and has been hijacking the EU issue to justify indyref2 since June 2016. She undoubtedly strongly suspects any efforts she made in London this week will prove futile. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, while happy to oppose a Tory deal, is conflicted over our EU membership and most likely will pay mere lip service to the SNP leader’s pro-eu rhetoric.

Ms Sturgeon’s objective right now is to try to polish her European credentials by maintaining she tried her best but failed because of Westminster intransigence.

In reality, staying in the single market and customs union – which Ms Sturgeon claims she desires – would be disastrous for Scottish nationalism, since our exiting both will form her key justification in demanding indyref2 over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, members of two of Scotland’s biggest teaching unions have overwhelmingly rejected a “final” pay offer, with industrial action a possibility. Remember Ms Sturgeon telling us education was her No 1 priority, rather than breaking up the UK?

MARTIN REDFERN Woodcroft Road, Edinburgh