INHIS letter (December 27), Derek Young seems to speak with some knowledge of the LibDems and their recent vote in the Scottish Parliament in favour of nuclear weapons, despite the impressions to the contrary they had given the wider public.
It seems that the actual LibDem position, as Mr Young tells us, is not that the LibDems are against nuclear weapons, just that they are against making a decision on them for, "several years yet, at least not until the next UK general election".
What an amazing principle the LibDems have on these multigenocidal weapons of mass destruction. The quotation from Marx - Groucho, that is - has never been more apt: "These are my principles - if you don't like them I have others."
On November 27 in the House of Commons we saw yet another example of the LibDem doublespeak as the SNP and Plaid tried to get an amendment to the Queen's Speech, that would have forced Tony Blair to come to the Commons and explain his plans for Iraq. Blair's preferred option, we may remember, was a broom cupboard for a video link to the Baker/Hamilton inquiry in Washington.
From a party of six, along with three Plaid MPs, we worked hard in the previous week to gather 107 signatures, from six political parties. Members from every political party in the house were willing to sign - except any LibDems.
Unfortunately, the Speaker chose the LibDem amendment which, as everyone knew, was doomed to defeat, because despite lifting and learning from the SNP amendment, they had many partisan extras, which, rather than being unifying on the crucial issue, made it obviously difficult for many other MPs to support from their respective political positions.
The LibDem gesture amendment "lived" in the Commons for probably 25 minutes and Blair was again let off the hook on Iraq thanks to the LibDems. It must be noted that the SNP voted with the LibDems despite their grandstanding. We did not quibble with their phrasing when pushing a broader principle.
Angus B MacNeil, MP, 58 Tangasdale, Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides.
ACCORDING to Derek Young's letter, his party are a bunch of procrastinators. They have rewritten the adage to be: "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow." Scotland will never get anywhere with this attitude in government.
Philip Aitken, 1 Moray Gardens, Cumbernauld.
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