FIRST I have to state that I have the greatest respect and admiration for Lorna Slater (Asking us to stand aside in this election is absurd, November 8). I have read loads of her articles and have been very impressed.

BUT – and there’s always a but – I do have to ask if her party is putting the cart before the horse regarding candidates standing at this General Election.

Lets have a look at the options. The Greens, as they are entitled to do, can field as many candidates as they want – that is democracy.

READ MORE: Asking the Scottish Greens to stand aside in this election is absurd

Let’s say they win all of the 20 seats they are going to contest, and send their Greens MPs to Westminster. What then? Will they just end up as Scottish MPs for independence, getting jeered at, being drowned out by the “wee bairns” in the Tory ranks? How many times will they get to speak to a full house and put their points over?

As we all know, speaking time is very short amongst 600-plus squabbling MPs. You only have to look at the last eight years or so with 50-plus then 30-plus MPs from the SNP.

So I say, first let’s get rid of the Scottish Tories from Westminster (not that you would know they were there). Second, in 2021 let’s,to use the Ginger Dug’s phrase, “panderise” the Tories in Scotland.

And for me that’s where the Scottish Greens will make the real difference to the Scottish thinking regarding green issues, too many to write down. Here is where they can really make their mark.

They will be heard at Holyrood; the stage is much smaller but will prove more powerful after independence.

An old racehorse trainer said once: “It’s not running the horse, that’s easy, its finding the right race”.

Ken McCartney
Hawick

I FEEL the need to respond to Lorna Slater’s article in The National on Friday.

The Scottish Greens as an organisation would have no parliamentary representation without devolution and the Scottish voting system. Lorna Slater would not be able to put an article in The National, telling us independence supporters how absurd we were, if the Yes movement did not have such following in Scotland, because The National would not exist without the support of the broad Yes movement.

If she is looking for absurdity in Scottish politics she need look no further than the planned actions of the Scottish Greens in this Westminster election.

What are the objectives of the Scottish Greens? What is their plan to achieve them? Lorna tells us about climate change objectives, and opposition to big corporations, which many of us understand – indeed that is why some of us have voted to put Green candidates into the Scottish Parliament – but I ask her again, what is her plan for this election?

I can quite understand the plan of the Greens in England and Wales. They are agreeing to restrict their option to stand candidates in a number of places in agreement with the LibDems and Plaid Cymru. In return they hope to support one of their objectives, opposition to Brexit. They also expect to reduce their cost of lost deposits, and increase their chances of winning seats. This all makes perfect sense to me. The English Greens have already won and held a first-past-the-post seat at Westminster, and with support of 12.5% at the EU elections they won seven MEPs, so it seems to me that they know a thing or two about building their party in difficult circumstances.

By contrast the Scottish Greens, who only secured 8% at the EU elections, have absolutely no chance of winning a seat in what could be the last Westminster election in Scotland; indeed they will be lucky in most constituencies to save their deposit. They will not be offering their members a step towards any of their main political objectives; on the contrary by possibly helping a Tory to win a seat from the SNP they could be helping to prevent some of their own objectives. But surely they will be helping to advertise their “brand” by standing for election? Even that objective is unlikely, indeed they will be doing their party more harm than good in regard to their long-term reputation.

So I ask again: just what is the plan, and how will it work? It may be because – as Lorna says – I’m absurd, but the whole rationale behind the policy of the Scottish Greens standing a large number of candidates in this Westminster election escapes me. Perhaps they should look at their comrades in England and try to learn something from them.

Andy Anderson
Saltcoats

CAN I respectfully suggest that the Green party reconsider their current strategy in Scotland for the upcoming General Election?

There are many of us in the SNP who are sympathetic to Green policies to the extent that post-indy, my beloved wife and I will likely vote/join Greens. It’s obvious (to me at least) that gaining indy will further the Greens’ cause substantially. Can they not see that their current strategy is actually endangering rather than benefitting the “cause” as it is going nowhere under the present system of first-past-the-post?

To step aside in selected marginals is not betraying or abandoning their principles, but simply a temporary strategy to achieve the ultimate goal of a greener Scotland.

Barry Stewart
Blantyre