SO the Scottish Secretary had to run a gauntlet of protestors as he attended the opening of a foodbank in Dumfries (“Mundell runs gauntlet of protesters to open food bank”,The Herald, July 25). From reports the crowd appeared angry, apparently shouting “shame on you”. From their badges and placards a number were nationalist supporters and SNP MSP Joan McAlpine subsequently waded in, asking if Mr Mundell agreed his Government’s policy is linked to a rise in hungry families. All very emotive, but are we sure they have the right target? Indeed, given they were supposed to be protesting about poverty, is there ever a person or a party that can be reasonably accused of being at fault?

I am afraid there was a degree of mock anger being expressed here. The same people would be applauding loudly if Nicola Sturgeon had been attending the event. Yet during eight years in Government the SNP have directed very little of the substantial budget they control towards relieving poverty. The reason they have not done so is because they have been determined to pursue populist, vote-winning policies, giving things “free” to people, including not only those who do desperately need help, but also those who could readily afford to pay.

It seems the SNP are only interested in scoring political points on the back of poverty, rather than actually trying to tackle what is a complex issue.

Poverty has not been overcome by any of the main political parties, and equally none of them - including the Tories - has ever set out to see people hungry or to trap them in poverty.

What is needed is determined and co-ordinated action across government, charities – like the Trussell Trust responsible for numbers of food banks including the new one in Dumfries – and the public at large, all playing their part in addressing the challenges faced by the most disadvantaged in society. No political party has the moral high ground on this, and David Mundell is right when he urges all sides to work together on the issue.

Keith Howell,

White Moss, West Linton.

I LITTLE thought I would find myself in accord with Thom Cross (Letters, July 25), but he exactly expresses the tragedy of the once great Labour Party and the movement which brought it into being.

The current extremities of the Cameron Government, catching up on scrapping all the lost bills since the Factory Acts, are rapidly returning us to the 19th century. It is time for the old values of solidarity and loyalty to be restored. It is time that the great bitterness between those of us who see a Scottish (and international) solution to unite with those who worry about their comrades and kin in places furth of Scotland to come together. The betrayal of that ethos by Harrie Harman and the Blairites is inexcusable. The hypocrisy of David Mundell's foodbank exercise was obscene. We must challenge this retrogression at every chance, whether it is here in Scotland or in Brussels or Liverpool or Birmingham.

I do hope that Mr Cross and his ilk begin to realise that we nationalists are not xenophobic nor anglophobic morons. Oh, aye, there are some like that and I wouldn't give them room space. The overwhelming majority of the people engaged in the movement for independence, and certainly the majority of SNP activists I know, are internationalists who believe our nation can contribute to the world and play a role more valid than that of an ex-imperialist. Yet, none of us have forgotten about the increasing poverty which, as a direct result of the failure of the Labour Party, face the most vulnerable from Truro to Thurso.

For the sake of our people in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom, let us unite to challenge this Government and its cruel and incompetent policies.

KM Campbell,

Bank House, Main Street, Doune.