DAVID Mundell seems to have a rather tenuous grasp of his own government position. His title is Sec-retary of State for Scotland, and his major responsibility is to represent the interests of Scotland at Westminster and in the Cabinet. But he seems to think he is some kind of colonial Governor-General, constantly issuing diktats and rebukes from on high to those we elected to run our internal national affairs (“Mundell: “SNP spoiling for Brexit fight to break up Union” The Herald, September 30).

He berates Nicola Sturgeon for constantly talking about a second referendum, when in fact all she is doing is responding to constant accusations from opposition spokespeople like himself who seem to be obsessed with the subject. We all know that there won’t be another referendum for some years, when the Brexit negotiations have been completed and we know the final outcome and the almost-certain negative effects on Scotland.

Mr Mundell and some of his colleagues also seem to think that the EU negotiators will supinely roll over and grant the UK substantially favourable terms, allowing us to stay in the single market while imposing total restrictions on immigrants from any other EU member. That is wishful thinking. Surely he understands that the final negotiated deal must be formally approved by every one of the other 27 member states, and that is never going to be forthcoming on any deal which unduly favours the UK at their expense.

Finally, Mr Mundell’s grasp of electoral arithmetic is also suspect. His own seat was the only Conserva-tive hold in Scotland, and he won by the narrowest of margins – only 1.55 per cent ahead of his SNP opponent. Every one of the 56 SNP members elected won by greater margins than that. And his party holds power at Westminster only because of the vagaries of the current first past the post electoral system, having won a narrow majority with only 36.8 per cent of the total votes cast, or 23 per cent of the total electorate.

It would be most helpful if Mr Mundell was seen just now and again to be speaking up for the interests of Scotland, as a major partner within this so-called United Kingdom, instead of constantly lecturing us to know our place and be grateful for small mercies.

Iain AD Mann,

7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.

WHILST I was surprised to see David Mundell's proclamation on your front page today – one wonders what percentage of the Scottish voters are interested in his views – I was nevertheless delighted to read your editorial which destroyed his so-called argument beautifully (“Silence over Brexit is not an option”, the Herald, September 30). I would have preferred to see the articles swap places.

Many thanks.

Carol Puthucheary,

1 Queensborough Gardens, Glasgow.

DAVID Mundell's latest jibe at Nicola Sturgeon and Scotland over Brexit clearly demonstrates that, far from being Scotland's man in Westminster, he is in fact Westminster's glove puppet in Scotland.

Not since the days of Sooty have we seen such an obviously manipulated performance of a cuddly toy.

The only difference between Mr Mundell and Sooty was that Sooty's performances were more convincing and carried more gravitas.

James Mills,

29 Armour Square, Johnstone.

IMAGINE if, in the 2021 Holyrood campaign, the SNP could say “our deficit is now less than the UK’s, education performance is closing in on Singapore, Finland and China, NHS spend is down 10 per cent due to major reforms, health education programmes and legislation on food manufacture and advertising, our proactive Brexit approach has created tremendous growth, especially in food, drink and fishing, and our support of fracking has made Grangemouth the European capital of gas and petrochemical extraction, production and distribution”.

People might either think “we can indeed be an independent country”, or “I don't want independence but I do want this SNP/Conservative alliance to be in charge for another five years.”

SNP/Conservative alliance? Well, how else is the SNP going to get the necessary reforms through the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green treacle? In the last two weeks it lost one major vote and nearly lost another.

The SNP, just like in 2007-11, needs the Tories’ support. So here’s my suggestion. If, in return for some (sorry, a lot of) common sense input to policy and legislation, the Conservatives gave their 31 seat support, the SNP’s legislation would sail through.

And if the condition on further support was a “moratorium” on referendums until an agreed set of performance benchmarks was met, a proper all-party White Paper on the options was produced, and not until 2026, all my constituency and regional votes would go to the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives.

If the SNP doesn't get a move on, by the time of the 2021 elections we will have had 14 years of gov-ernmental paralysis.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

DESPITE on-going accusations of double standards over fracking and the usual Holyrood divisions it is again encouraging and "feel-good" to see the five smiling leaders of Scotland's political parties putting their differences behind them, even if only briefly, and coming together to show their backing for positive action on Climate Change (“World in their hands”, The Herald, September 30).

Could this happen at Westminster? Not likely.

R Russell Smith,

96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.