Archie Stirling's Uncle wasn't as clean as he pretends

Scots' generosity of spirit stretched by MacKenzie's laughable criticisms

Following Kelvin MacKenzie's outburst on Question Time (your report, 13 October), the research assistant to Christine Grahame MSP has, presumably with approval, made complaints to the Tayside and Metropolitan police forces under Section 155 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

This neatly sums up the complete uselessness of some of our MSPs and their assistants. Where's their confidence in the Scottish people? Are we so feeble that we have to go running to nanny every time anyone says anything unpleasant? Are we Scots - the greatest inventors in the world - so over-sensitive that we can't choose to either ignore or laugh at something so obviously puerile and untrue?

What MacKenzie - a talented ex-tabloid editor, journalist and broadcaster - apparently said, was that the Scots were not entrepreneurial and that they relied on the clever English for handouts. That, of course, is to paraphrase because MacKenzie was bent on milking the situation for just such a reaction as he has got. Now the office of one of our less thoughtful MSPs has decided, instead of ignoring and laughing at something so clearly untrue, to take action. The truth is that the Scots are one of the most entrepreneurial and talented races on Earth - or at least used to be - but may have occasionally been accused of being a bit dour in the humour department by those who were not subtle enough to understand "dry".

This reaction to Kelvin MacKenzie is truly sad. With crime rates rising, police time at a premium and most police stations unmanned where is our sense of proportion? Apart from anything else, the comments made MacKenzie look stupid and bigoted - we should leave it at that.

ARCHIE STIRLING
Craigarnhall
Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire

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Archie Stirling's party despite being given blanket coverage by a compliant media received an extremely low vote. This was deserved becaused it termed itself 'Scottish voice' while ignoring almost everyone in Scotland's views!

His letter tries to suggest that the SNP should be blamed for a 'nanny state' attitude because of the actions of one of their researchers, who isn't even a member of the party! "This neatly sums up the complete uselessness of some of our MSPs and their assistants."

Does it really? I don't think so, it shows that in fact our MSP's are employing people with brains who know the law of the land.

Individual political activists can take action without necessarily being asked to do so by any political party. This doesn't neatly tie in with Mr Stirling's top down 'Big Daddy knows best' type of politics however.

Stirling's 'big idea' seemed to be at the last election that he was intrinsically 'better' than all the other candidates for MSP. Presumably due to his money, his snobbery and his 'status' as the nephew of the founder of the SAS.

In fact his uncle was also involved in a coup to bring down the democratically elected Wilson Labour Government! To use this 'pedigree' was ridiculous and his right of centre unionist politics fell on deservedly deaf ears in Scotland.

More Tories? Why? The ones we have just now are bad enough.