GEORGE Kerevan (one of my favourite politicians) is so incredibly wrong in his assertions about Alba (Alba must regroup and build on the solid foundation laid by Salmond, Oct 21). In his own words and in his own constituency, 1.2% of the vote is lamentable. Across Scotland, gaining a combined total of fewer than 12,000 votes in 19 seats was a very clear indication that there is no appetite for Alba even with Alex Salmond as leader; and now without?

Alex Salmond was, I’m afraid, wrong in making Alba a political party. He acted out of personal angst mixed with feelings of revenge, retribution and anger.

READ MORE: Ash Regan: The task of shaping Alex Salmond's legacy lies with all of us

Alba could have been an independence movement in or close to the SNP. The Labour Party has the Fabians, Labour First and Momentum, which nearly made Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister.

There is the old political adage that “you are better inside the tent than outside p****ing in”.

There is only one mass party that can engineer independence for Scotland, the SNP. That is objective reality. Even in a bad election this year, the SNP gained 750,000 votes.

READ MORE: No decision to bar Nicola Sturgeon from Alex Salmond memorial, says acting Alba chief

Alba need to rethink. There is too much emotion, sentiment and cultural sympathetic nationalism locked into the “party” at the moment. In time there needs to be a reappraisal, even a rapprochement.

There are too many fine patriotic politicians caught by the heart and not the head, floundering, adrift in the stormy sea of sovereignty. Come home to the SNP and make it better.

Thom Cross
Carluke

I MAY just be an outlier but is anyone else feeling a bit queasy about the deifying of St Alex which is currently going on in the media and social media?

Let me be clear; I highly respect and recognise the political skills of Alex Salmond, what he achieved in his day, especially in the cause of independence, a debate which remains on the front foot to this day, and his overall contribution to the health of Scottish politics.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond's friends and family consider St Andrew's Day celebration

Yet all the “public outpouring”, the “independence will never happen now”, the immediate social media attacks on the Scottish Parliament authorities for moving “tributes” to a safe place just leaves me wary and uncomfortable.

Those who met Alex Salmond would revel in the warmth of a politician at the top of his game, those who knew him at SNP conferences would know he liked a richt guid wulliewaucht and also his weaknesses and failings.

The bottom line is, while Alex Salmond’s contribution to the cause of Scottish independence is rightly raised as a matter of great import, he ended up in the same situation as Prince Charles Edward Stewart; close, but no cigar.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond did Scotland proud – he deserved a better homecoming

The cause for Scottish independence will not be advanced by maudlin cries of “what might have been” or “Alex is gone, we’re aa doomed” or the current school playground level of debate between Alba and SNP followers, but by reminding ourselves of what Alex Salmond really achieved in the run-up to 2014 – which was to create a unified Scottish politic in the pursuit of independence – and get that back on track.

Now that would be the real legacy for Alex Salmond.

Peter Thomson
Kirkcudbright

THE Encyclopaedia Britannica defines truth as “propositions that are said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to state what is the case”. It is a objective concept in philosophy and in life which is indivisible and beyond question. Something is either true or it is not. It was therefore with incredulity that I read the column by Richard Walker in which he states “One person’s truth does not necessarily mean another’s is a lie” (Different sides of Salmond are impossible to reconcile, Oct 18). Mr Walker is, I understand, a trained and professional journalist, so it pains me to say that the foundations on which his whole article is based are ontological nonsense.

This post-modernist concept of individual subjective truth, notably now promoted by trans ideology, bears no relation to the concept of truth as historically understood by lawyers, theologians, and philosophers. It has led to the bizarre and laughable position where parliamentarians of all parties are reluctant to say if they believe themselves to be male or female, or whether they can judge someone else to be male or female. Subjective truth is nothing more than an article of faith. Just as Buddhists sincerely believe in reincarnation, and Catholics sincerely believe in transubstantiation, increasing numbers of people wrongly believe their subjective truth to be reality. This trend is a threat to freedom of speech as objective truth, which has to be defended at all costs.

We all have feet of clay: myself, Richard Walker, and the late Alex Salmond, who I was privileged to know for 43 years. Human failings and weakness do not detract from the immense and lasting political legacy of the former First Minister.

Cllr Andy Doig (Independent)
Renfrewshire Council

WE had news on the BBC this past weekend that an Israeli strike in northern Gaza on a multi-storey residential building had killed (“according to Hamas”) 70 people.

The Israelis say that Hamas is “exaggerating” the figures. So it’s the numbers that matter. Is 30 dead OK? 40 or 50? Just not 70?

Since Blair and his illegal war, I’ve been saying that Westminster governments can’t get any worse. Every time, they do.

I wouldn’t have believed an incoming Labour government could be any worse, however bad they were, than the outgoing Tories.

But they are. That’s quite an achievement so quickly. Enabling mass murder/massacre/genocide (choose your term). They are criminals, pure and simple.

Alan Laird
Stirling