AS you would expect, Scottish Labour has listened and responded to the latest Ipsos Mori poll showing their predicted losses in Scotland. Of course, any responsible political party with their finger on the pulse would regard this as a wake-up call.

The response in the Sunday National (Scottish Labour seek to soften indyref stance, October 18) gives us insight into Alex Rowley’s thinking as shadow cabinet secretary for Brexit and constitutional relations. I read the content that follows the headline loaded with hope and then, deflated, I thought, “here we go again, Labour exhibiting its electoral opportunism by listening to the polls saying what the people think but never listening directly to the people”.

READ MORE: Scottish Labour seek to soften indyref2 stance after dismal poll performance

It really is all about electoral success for Labour! Alex Rowley points to a recent statement from his party’s Scottish Executive Committee: “It is the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine their future, and the right of the people of Scotland to determine the form of government suited to their needs” (and then goes on to state the case for federalism!).

Alex should have stopped his interview there (at the SEC statement), because it is evident from the poll what the Scottish people are saying they want! They want independence. Not a halfway house! The sovereign people want an alternative to the dysfunctional so-called Union that has manifested into a dictatorship run by the unelected and incompetent. Except Alex went on to say that it was Scottish Labour’s job to make a case for UK reform and in so doing he exposed how hollow the SEC’s statement is.

Read the statement, Alex, and think about it. Time and again, Labour rolls out the federal option as a salve for independence. It even tries to “game the system” by sticking a divisive third question in the next referendum (something they opposed in 2014), hoping to catch the waverers presumably?

The last referendum gave us devo max, and what an impotent thing that is proving to be, with Westminster doing its utmost to make Holyrood sterile through the internal market legislation and the burgeoning Queen Elizabeth House UK hub in Edinburgh. We do not need another devo max!

Scottish Labour, please stop putting the brakes on progress! The only remedy for the sovereign people is clear from the poll that has spooked all Unionists. The people have declared their intention. It is self-determination and independence! It must be respected and plans must be made to bring the best version of an independent Scotland into being.

I only wish that Labour would abide by its own recognition of the sovereignty of the Scots, an inalienable truth, and grab the reigns of the quiet revolution that is happening in Covid Scotland. Unfortunately, Labour has lost its way and its fortunes are inextricably linked to Scottish independence. They need to listen to what the Scottish people are telling them, embrace the argument which is all about democracy, forget the playground nationalist/separatist taunts, and make Labour a progressive driver in the new nation state of Scotland which is coming for a’ that.

Otherwise Labour, aligned to federalism, will join their contemporaries in the LibDems and become like wandering Willie in the political wilderness!

Patricia Logan
Dalkeith

AS reliable as Pavlov’s dogs, The Herald produced its expected headline, “North Sea output to fall to nearly nothing by 2050, experts warn”.

The salivation was obviously prompted by the Ipsos Mori poll showing 58% of people favour independence.

Ros Lauchland
via email