THE events of the past few months have caused me great confusion and distress. Indeed, I awake from my slumber each morning convinced that the Labour victory in May last year was an illusion, and that the Tories are still in power. All the indications are that this is the case and that there has been no change in Government, only a change in the cynical and calculated presentation of policy.
It would appear that the spectre of the Iron Lady has reared its ugly head once more in Scottish politics, as the politics of confrontation are played out by the Education Minister, and the future of our children is cast aside in favour of soundbite and cynicism as the Minister plays the heavy hand.
The Minister for Housing needs a spade to dig his head from the sand in which it is obviously buried. Let him visit the slums and wastelands that he dismisses with an arrogance that borders on stupidity and tell those unfortunate to live there that life is not that bad.
Where is the help that was promised by the Government for the small businessman? The high interest rates, strong pound, and Government fiscal policy make it more and more difficult for the entrepreneur to create jobs and prosperity. I urge the Government to cut free from the chains of dogma and respond to the current market-place.
It must be a dilemma for those who consider themselves to be Socialists and supporters of this Government. How can the two be considered compatible, when in fact there is a huge moral, ethical, and political chasm between them?
It was therefore no surprise to read that a new political party, the Scottish Socialist Party, is being formed. After all, there are too many cuckoos in the Labour Party nest for any real socialist to survive and thrive.
Patrick Rolink,
28 Thrushbush Quadrant, Airdrie.
September 16.
Bismarck model
MY observation that all nationalism is right-wing and reactionary seems to have provoked a revealingly strong defensive reaction from the SNP letter-writing cadre. In particular, Donald R Buchanan (September 19) takes me to task for saying the ''all nationalism is romantic and reactionary'' because the use of the word ''all'' allows one exception to defeat the argument. He would be right if it was about nit-picking semantics, which it isn't.
Mr Buchanan then goes on to concede the argument by citing the Prussian ''Iron Chancellor'', Count Otto von Bismarck, as a left-wing nationalist! Bismarck was the archetypal right-wing, aristocratic, reactionary, expansionist, militaristic nationalist. He is the embodiment and justification of my argument: all nationalism is right-wing and reactionary.
The soul of nationalism is conservative, and the SNP is only pretending to be ''left-wing'' for short-term electoral gain. If, as Mr Buchanan implies, the internally repressive Prussia of Count Otto von Bismarck provides the model for a separate Scotland under the SNP, we should all be praying as hard as we can that it will never happen.
Alex Gallagher,
12 Phillips Avenue, Largs.
September 21.
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