Honest Jim is up to the job of beating SNP

In last week’s Scottish Mail on Sunday, the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Jim Murphy, wrote a good honest comment on Scottish politics. There are now really only two main parties in Scotland: Labour and the SNP.

Mr Murphy has a hard job as he tries to get Labour back to what it once was, but the way he worked during the recent referendum shows he is up to it.

On the other side, we have yesterday’s man Alex Salmond who, after his referendum defeat and resignation as First Minister, now tries to remain in the spotlight by trying for a Westminster seat.

He is only doing this for his own advancement and to cause trouble in the Parliament he hates – plus the chance to try again to break up the UK as he failed to do in the past.

James Borland, Peebles Even if the SNP manages to win several Labour-held seats in this year’s General Election (which I doubt very much), the result will mean only a slight reduction in the Labour Party total. As a result, any coalition between Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond would still not match the Tory total (based on the result from the 2010 election). To form a government, Labour would need support from other parties – meaning those others parties would hold the balance of power – and Mr Salmond would be a loser once again.

Trevor Downer, Barrhead, Renfrewshire When faced with a real-world situation, the SNP prefers to switch off the megaphone and lie low. When oil was priced at $113 a barrel, they promised solid gold paving stones in every street. But now oil has dropped to less than $50 a barrel, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Finance Secretary John Swinney are being asked how many pre-nursery school places they can afford, how much would be going into a sovereign oil fund etc, etc.

What do we hear? Silence. Anyone can make promises, that’s the easy bit. If l win a massive lottery fortune, l will give everyone in Scotland a £50 note; that is a solemn promise.

But please, wait until l win before you start spending it. Yes, l know my figures don’t add up but neither do the SNP’s sums.

Colin Cookson, Glenrothes, Fife