I HAVE watched with interest the developing saga which has now resulted in the one-week suspension from the SNP parliamentary group of Fergus Ewing.

As a resident of Langholm, I and others in the area will fail to be surprised by this gentleman’s right-wing credentials and contempt for the Greens being further exposed.

We remember all too clearly that, in his role as energy minister, he censured our then South of Scotland MSP, Joan McAlpine, for campaigning on behalf of her constituents against the proposed fracking for oil in the Canonbie district.

Mr Ewing displayed a creeping allegiance to the Duke of Buccleuch when endorsing the planned fracking. He apparently considered that the potential environmental damage was of no consequence.

Aeneas M Nicolson

Langholm