AS I often do, I have to agree with George Kerevan’s summary of the Alba Party and its difficult future choices. It was clear to anyone with a calculator that their small percentage base vote would not translate into council seats (Big changes are Alba’s only hope of survival, May 9).

At the Scottish Parliament elections it was simply too much to expect any political party to go from zero to credible in a matter of weeks. In addition, the SNP firmly closed the door to the very idea of asking its supporters to vote Alba on the list – a decision which led to a million wasted SNP votes and the election of a mass of Unionist list MSPs whose only aim in life is to frustrate and criticise the day-to-day actions of the Scottish Government in the hope of convincing the electorate that it could not therefore govern an independent Scotland.

READ MORE: Vindictive comments about Alba’s failure to win any seats were disheartening

On the rare occasions that I watch First Minister’s Questions I initially feel sympathy for the FM as she has to answer a barrage of Unionist questions, but then I remember it was the FM’s own decision to use the list vote as a form of insurance policy, rather than a radical method of gaining a firm and complete hold on the Scottish Parliament for five years, which directly led to the election of these Unionists.

As day by day the promised “late 2023” referendum approaches, we can only live in hope that someone, somewhere in the ranks of the SNP leadership has a cunning plan to kick-start or reboot the Yes campaign. The month of May is almost half gone. June and July will see thoughts of holidays – in the sun if you can still afford it, in the Scottish rain and midges if you can’t.

READ MORE: SNP MP Hannah Bardell told off for calling Tory government 'criminals'

At some point in the political calendar there is lurking a tipping point – a date beyond which it will be almost impossible to win a referendum. It will be too late to raise the money, too late to answer the currency question, too late to convince those doubters in the middle of the Yes/No spectrum of the benefits of independence and too late to have a Plan B or Plan C when the UK Supreme Court says a firm no to the Scottish Parliament’s legislation. In effect it will be too late to win.

I suspect that point is somewhere in late 2022 or very early 2023. Then it will be the turn of the First Minister and the SNP to make some really difficult choices.

John Baird
Largs

HERE we go again – the ego that is George Kerevan highlighting that Alba is a busted flush and then for most of his column denigrating our FM and the SNP. Divisive tripe that presents no realistic analysis or understanding of being in government and governing for the 5.5 million folks in Scotland while trying to convert many more Scots from No to Yes. Who is George Kerevan trying to talk to with this drivel? Do he and his ilk really want independence?

Jan Ferrie
Ayrshire

I LISTENED to Nicola Sturgeon’s entirely reasonable response to a question put to her about Alba and I have no idea what Maggie Chetty (Letters, May 10) is trying to say about it. Pity they didn’t ask me.

Dave McEwan Hill
Sandbank, Argyll

THE usual pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament contrasts against the real struggles the vast majority of the population face. While we have the monarchy draped in their finery, presiding over a Tory speech that simply highlights their lack of concern for the cost-of-living crisis that they have created, others are wondering how they are going to pay their next energy bills.

It’s gotten so bad that the boss of one of the energy companies is asking for the UK Government to act now – no doubt to save their profits in the long run. The Westminster government is simply ignoring the hardships faced by ordinary people. The rise in food prices and the massive rise in energy bills mean nothing to them, so don’t expect either the Prime Minister or Chancellor to act.

READ MORE: Prince Charles in Union plea after SNP and Sinn Fein election wins

After all, we now have a Prime Minister who flouts the laws he makes and a Chancellor who ignores the tax avoidance carried out by his wife. Corruption is endemic within the UK political system and the longer we’re part of this fiasco the more likely others will be drawn into it.

We need our independence and we need it now. Too many years have been wasted trying to persuade a right-wing England to give up on Brexit – years that should have been used to build up support for independence. It’s not too late to make the move now – I would encourage everyone to get along to the independence march and rally in Glasgow on Saturday – make your voices heard, we need independence and we need it now!

Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley

ON Monday BBC News announced that the Queen would be represented by a proxy to tell her subjects what new laws her government would enact during the next parliamentary term. One of these is a law punishing protesters against that government’s failure to honour commitments to reducing the level of carbon being produced within the UK. If such protesters are to threaten infrastructure, they will be liable to prison sentences of up to six months or unlimited fines. This may include protests against illegal nuclear weapons.

READ MORE: Five ridiculous things that happen during the State Opening of Parliament

In the same bulletin the Met Office was reported as saying that the UK was going to fail to meet the cuts in carbon emissions which would keep the temperature within the internationally agreed limits.

This suggests the whole government system of our country is ignoring its own scientific experts. It also suggests that the BBC are not digesting the information they are broadcasting. Prince Charles, who likes to believe he has green credentials, should have been announcing awards for the young people who are pointing out our communal folly by protesting, not reading out their potential punishments.

Iain WD Forde
Scotlandwell