I HAVE known Chris McEleny since he was a boy and I count him as a friend and fellow Greenock Morton supporter. I also endorsed him publicly to be the preferred SNP candidate for the Holyrood election for our constituency. That is why I was a little disappointed that he could not have given me a heads up, in complete confidence, that he was moving to Alba. However, I fully respect Chris’s decision to leave the SNP, and that will make no difference to me remaining as his friend. I wish him all the best.
However, I must pick up one of the things that he said in his article in The National (The is why I left the SNP to join Alba, April 5). He says that “a lot of our fellow citizens voted No not because they were against Scottish independence, but because they didn’t support what was being offered by the Scottish Government.”
READ MORE: Chris McEleny: This is why I left the SNP to join the Alba Party
I am sorry Chris but what was being offered by the Scottish Government was being offered by Alex Salmond, who was the First Minister in that government. If Chris is saying Alex was wrong then, why is he suddenly right now?
Alex, when he was First Minister, also always opposed the policies of the Tories and yet he allowed David Davis to make a speech in support of him at Westminster. The very least he could have done was to say that the speech was made without his endorsement, which would have let us know he still opposed the Tories and all they stand for.
As I said, I wish Chris all the best and hope he enjoyed his Easter tablet. For me, as an SNP supporter, it is still BOTH VOTES SNP.
Tom Tracey
Greenock
THE SNP may be the vehicle to get our Independence, however it needs ALBA to get it going. That’s why I will be voting SNP1 and ALBA2.
Iris Graham
via email
JUST a quick question to George Kerevan (This was the giant elephant in the room at BBC leaders’ debate, April 5). He writes: “If Alba succeeds...” And if it doesn’t, and it splits the vote, what then?
Ken McCartney
Hawick
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