The fourthman?

We face a very uncertain period in Scottish politics now, with the approaching election.

The advent of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party may, or may not cause the separatist representation in the Scottish Parliament to increase, but it is a danger that it may.

To counteract that threat, Douglas Ross has held out an olive branch to the other two unionist parties to “use the heid”, agree on which of their parties can beat the separatists in each constituency and give each a clear run against them. Now, it may be that Willie Rennie – who has said no – with a handful of MSPS has a cunning plan to achieve a landslide, but, somehow, I doubt it.

The new leader of the Labour Party, runners-up in opposition, let us not forget, to the Conservatives, is a man standing in a very deep electoral hole. Labour was the party that carried all before it until Iain Gray lost it in a Glasgow sandwich shop. Their voters moved to the SNP and have stayed there.

Many tens, or even hundreds of thousands could still be persuaded back with a decent programme of policies and a realistic approach to the electoral arithmetic. That is something that Mr Sarwar clearly lacks, not just a little, but utterly.

Perhaps, however, the separatists have achieved something even more spectacular than we can see. Just as there was rumoured to be a “fourth man” when Philby, Burgess and Maclean were rumbled, Scottish politics has Sturgeon, Salmond and Harvie. Should Sarwar be added to that list?

PETER HOPKINS Morningside Road, Edinburgh