Since her arrival on the political scene Mhairi Black MP has made an impressive contribution. So it is understandable that she should urge your readers to use both votes in the forthcoming election to support the SNP ('If you believe in independence, you risk everything unless you give both votes to the SNP', Comment, April 24). Nevertheless she is wrong to then criticise those who choose to support different political parties with their two votes. The Scottish Parliament is founded on principles of diversity, consensus and transparency, centred on an electoral process which allows diversity of voting choice. Those who choose diversity should not find themselves accused by of being “wrong, misguided, disingenuous or even wilfully attempting to mislead”.
Take land reform. The SNP membership forcefully told the party leadership at their autumn conference that they were dissatisfied with progress under the last Scottish Government. Manifesto commitments on national parks were abandoned, bulldozed hill tracks were still not brought under proper planning control and landowners continued to burn and overgraze our hillsides, with no effective regulation, resulting in downstream flooding and massive damage. Despite this conference defeat, the First Minister then responded to further special pleading from landowners and approved camping bylaws in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. These will criminalise innocent citizens trying to enjoy the fresh air in the great outdoors. That is why large numbers of SNP supporters and others will be using their second vote for the Greens next Thursday, knowing that an SNP Government alone will not deliver effective land reform.
Dave Morris
Kinross
Mairi Black does not say why Scotland should be independent. I voted Yes in 2014 because I believed we could do better ruling ourselves, especially when in comes to wealth inequality. That is why my second vote will go to Greens. The Scottish Parliament will have the power to bring in more radical land reform, tax high earners more and reform planning laws, but the SNP are too timid.
As Labour left Mairi Black, the SNP is leaving me, first with keeping the monarchy, keeping Nato membership and refusing to update drug policy, and now by not using the powers that Holyrood already has.
My regional vote will go to the Greens, but if SNP want my constituency vote, they will have to try much harder. Unfortunately, they are starting to look like New Labour
Frank Titterton
Edinburgh
Mhairi Black warns Yes voters that parliamentary pro-independence support can only be secured if they give both their votes to the SNP. A split vote, she argues, will undermine the case for independence even if the regional vote goes to a pro-independence party.
But Mhairi Black should be careful what she wishes for. Maybe even Yes voters don't want to see a Scottish Parliament with an overly powerful SNP and a token opposition. It would be the end of meaningful, democratic pluralism and the often quoted spectre of a one-party state could become a bleak reality.
Regina Erich
Stonehaven
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel