Readers' Letters: Swinney in charge will likely mean more failure

John Swinney looks set to be Scotland's first minister (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Our likely second unelected first minister in a little over a year is sounding more and more like our second unelected Prime Minister in less than two years.

John Swinney's talk of a reset of government sounds remarkably similar to that of Rishi Sunak a few months ago. Neither seems to do irony. Both – and Mr Swinney in particular – have their fingerprints all over the regimes of which they are now critical and wish to replace! We have seen how successfully Mr Sunak's attempts at redirection have been. It remains to be seen what Mr Swinney can bring to the table.

His SNP colleague Stewart McDonald (Perspective, 4 May) pins his hopes on Mr Swinney emerging as the man of the moment based on his qualities of “personal warmth, pragmatism and openness”. Well Humza Yousaf, we are told, was a nice guy and we have seen how much good that did us. The word “pragmatism” would suggest the capability, perhaps, of keeping the ship of state afloat, but not of guiding it on a new, better course. And claims of “openness” are risible. This is the man who only agreed to provide papers to the Salmond inquiry committee when threatened by a vote of no confidence, serially deleted his WhatsApp messages during Covid and was branded as lacking in candour and of questionable integrity by the judge conducting the trams inquiry!

Mr Swinney's alleged qualities which failed to serve him well in his first shot at SNP leader did not help much in his more recent career. Any claims of competence were shredded by his disastrous stint in charge of the Education brief, which saw him ditching his “flagship” bill after wasting two years on it, not to mention another vote of no confidence over his woeful performance during the pandemic. And then there's the Named Person scheme. Enough said.

I fear Scotland is in for more of the same failure for another two years from another continuity candidate, albeit with a less strident voice.

Colin Hamilton, Edinburgh

Pure formality

Mary Thomas (Letters, 4 May) accuses Labour's Jackie Baillie of hypocrisy for calling for a Holyrood election as a consequence of the SNP changing its leader, and so first minister (Wales changed its first minister without an election). Apart from the fact that Scottish Labour is not responsible for Welsh Labour's decisions, it's become the norm for people to call for an election every time a ruling party changes its leader.

However, we do not have a presidential democracy. We elect parties and accept that the ruling party's leader will lead the government. It's a mistake to believe that we elect a party leader; only party members can do that. In fact, it's a party's MPs who should choose their leader. If a party changes its leader that's no cause for an election.While the Scottish Parliament, unlike The Commons, does elect the first minister, that's a formality just to endorse the choice of the ruling party.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

Some example

Mary Thomas celebrates a World Bank prediction that “Poland will be wealthier than the UK in 2025” (Letters, 4 May). This assumes Russia hasn’t invaded by then. If true, though, it might illustrate to the far-left Continuity SNP and Greens what ditching communism can do for a country.

Ironically, this new economic dynamo was ruled by a right-wing government until just a few months ago.

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

Sturgeon’s way

Nicola Sturgeon spent eight years as first minister of Scotland accomplishing absolutely nothing and since her resignation has spent over a year doing even less for our country. According to reports, Sturgeon has been writing her autobiography, writing for newspapers, writing for the New Statesman, she's working as a director of Nicola Sturgeon Ltd, she's been making speeches (not in Holyrood) and meeting poets and pals for a glass of wine. She has also, of course, been picking up her salary for being an MSP but can't possibly have time to do any work for that salary. Perhaps some, or one, of her constituents could please let us know what she has done for them?

Stan Hogarth, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire

Devolution done

I don’t know if “Devolution was designed to fail”, as Stan Grodynski claims (Letters, 3 May), but I do know it has failed under the SNP’s stewardship. His description of these political mountebanks having reduced poverty, supported the NHS and “progressed” education is a travesty.

The enemies of genuine devolution have been the SNP at Holyrood, who have gathered ever more power to themselves at the expense of local authorities. Any advantage of devolution has been for the Central Belt, with a complete failure to understand the problems of rural northern Scotland, or even to show curiosity about them. Even thinking of introducing the HPMAs and a ban on woodburning stoves – before mentioning the failure to dual the A9 – clearly demonstrates this complete absence of comprehension.

As for the “Vow” of 2014, I challenge Mr Grodynski to show me what in it has not been delivered. And why should “further powers” come to Holyrood, when Holyrood has made such a Horlicks of the powers that it has? The sorry farce that was the Scottish census in 2022, and poorly drafted laws like the DRS and GRR, bear witness to that. Mr Grodynski forgets the further powers devolved by Scotland Acts in 2012 and 2016. The latter has allowed the ill-conceived tax differentials to damage Scotland’s finances.

Then we have the usual separatist illusion: “Independence is the only change that will realistically lift the aspirations of the people.” Pray, how will it do that?

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

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