IMAGINE an alliance of the three main Unionist parties who privately might be spooked by the opinion polls and the increasing awareness of the potential for parties other than the SNP to win many of their list seats.

Their strategists hold a secret meeting. “What can we do to save our list seats?”asks one. “There is a huge risk to us if large numbers of independence-supporting voters switch their second votes away from the SNP,” states another. “Last time there were more than three-quarters of a million second SNP votes, which gave them no list seats in six of our regions. That saved us then.”

“That’s more votes than any of us got over the whole country,” says another. “Our representation could be halved adds another if they change their votes.”

“What’s this you say?” asks another. “The SNP are repeating the same ‘two votes SNP’ policy again? We’re saved! Let’s get our lottery tickets and crack open the Moët.”

The SNP policy reflects their concern for their own party to achieve an overall majority, but not for the wider independence movement. If you are like myself in wanting to have as many independence-supporting parties as possible rather than Unionists in our new parliament, then the message is clear. While there is an argument in Highlands and Islands and in South Scotland in particular to support SNP in the list vote, in the rest of Scotland we must use our second vote wisely supporting an alternative independence-supporting party or individual. For me it’s SNP first, Green second, as the Greens have a track record of good support and positive influence on the SNP budgets and policies.

Campbell Anderson
Edinburgh

I HAVE long since given up on the usually dull and excruciatingly uninformative political leader debates which have become an integral part of each and every election campaign. I long for one of the broadcast stations to mix it up a bit and come up with a different format.

How about short, one-to-one sessions between two participants only focused on specific topics; how about Scottish independence, for example? Each politician getting to ask perhaps two questions of their counterpart on topic in a time-limited exchange.

Imagine the pairings Sturgeon v Ross, Harvie v Sarwar and Salmond v Galloway. Now those might be worth watching. Who knows, even Rennie might learn something.

I Easton
Glasgow

I HAVE received leaflets through the door from the Tories, Scottish Labour and the Liberals and find myself extremely disappointed! Whilst Labour and the Liberals have polices to consider, I see that the Tories have only one. Although there’s comment about education and employment in Scotland, the Tories mention indyref about ten times.

I have voted in every election since 1979. Life and priorities have changed over time since then, so have politics and each party’s policies. Whether good or bad, Tory policy has changed too, but here we are in 2021 and the Scottish Tories have one-track minds, and I’m sure this track will take them nowhere. Oblivion is on the map...

It seems to me that honourable Tories of the past would recognise recent polling and some of them might even be bold and accept the demand for independence. Then Tory policies would be developed for full government in Scotland, and even though this may be a bit adventurous for some voters, at least it would be a constructive and forward-looking position.

Of course they’d need intelligent leaders in Scotland then, but their leaflets would be more engaging and intelligent.

Kenneth HW Campbell
Troon

DESPITE the relentless attacks by the UK state media on Ms N Sturgeon (FM) and the SNP generally over the past few years, there is now a regular 50+% for independence on the YES2 opinion polling, inclusive of an exemplary personal rating for FM Sturgeon.

In contrast, opinion polls appear to be showing Salmond as having an even worse rating than Johnson, and as Johnson’s antics have largely contributed to the increase in the 45% Yes vote from 2014, It would seem equally likely that a Salmond presence at Holyrood, or worse, a publicly perceived controlling interest in the governance of Scotland, would adversely impact the YES2 polling percentage.

If Salmond’s Alba manages to remove the SNP majority at Holyrood – by directly costing SNP list seats, and indirectly costing Green list seats – in the attempt to get at Ms N Sturgeon (FM), then the citizens of Scotland may well come collectively to the conclusion that Holyrood and the Scottish Government have become too unstable to make that leap to independence.

I am not prepared to have my YES2 vote effectively negated/wasted by Salmond’s Alba, and therefore, whilst I agree with Mr R Walker (The National, April 8) that “both votes SNP” is the safe default, I feel obliged to ensure that my list vote maintains the steady SNP/Green progress, mitigating any list votes for Salmond’s Alba, as far as practicable.

Stephen Tingle
Greater Glasgow

I DO wish folk like KM Campbell (Letters, April 10) would stop talking about voting “SNP 1 and 2”. This could lead to a voter doing just that – instead of marking the SNP candidate and the party each with an X.

If a voter did mark the SNP candidate with 1 on the constituency ballot paper, the returning officer would probably accept this a clear indication of choice, but what about a list ballot paper with a 2 against the party?

The message should be: “SNP Both Votes”.

Jack Foley
Hamilton