A number of readers have recently been contrasting English and Scottish politics.

Brian Derbyshire (October 24) seemed to be sympathetic to the Scottish Government’s policies on free prescriptions and school dinners, assisted university places, free elderly care and the possibility of a local income tax.

He even suggested we could all enjoy such policies if we lived under a Scottish Labour Party.

While these may well be good policies, it was the Scottish National Party (SNP) which introduced them — not the Scottish Labour Party or Gordon Brown’s “cronies” as another reader J D O’Connor, suggested (October 25).

The Labour Party, in Scotland and London, has obstructed the SNP at every opportunity. The Scottish Labour Party has been ordered to follow the Westminster line, where Labour chiefs are desperate to keep power by trying to appeal to a tiny proportion of swing voters in middle England, rather than mobilising the disillusioned millions who have given up voting.

In Scotland, the SNP had no option but to form a minority Government. This was because none of the big three UK unionist parties would support it. Nonetheless, it has enjoyed good popularity in Scotland.

Over the years, many people in Scotland have become dismayed by the almost identical manifestos offered by the Labour, Lib-Dem and Conservative parties. Rightly or wrongly, most Scottish voters want left-of-centre policies which the big three parties don’t offer.

Despite some myths, the SNP is not anti-English. It is, however, anti-Westminster rule. Its policies are not based on race or ethnicity. It has supporters from across the world, including England, from various racial backgrounds, including an Asian MSP.

The SNP promotes a civic, not racist, nationalism for the good of everyone in Scotland, whatever their origins.

It recognises that Scotland has benefited in some ways from the Union and the British Empire. However, that era has long gone and it has left many problems, not least emigration.

Furthermore, Scotland is not living off England’s wealth, despite what the begrudging critics keep saying. It has more than paid its way over the last 300 years and its people are absolutely entitled to govern themselves as they now see fit.

Instead of criticising Scotland, English people who are fed up with their poor deal from Westminster should turn their sights on the big parties.

They should fight them at every election and ensure working people’s needs are at the centre of the political debate. However, they should also reject the racist views of parties like the BNP, which have exploited a widespread sense of betrayal which many English people feel about modern politics.

Arguably, people in England are now paying the price for tolerating an unrepresentative, outdated electoral system that has, in effect, resulted in 30 years of Thatcherite politics.

All the big three parties have promoted Britain as a good place to do business because of its cheap workforce from home and abroad. While some people may have enjoyed a few short-term gains, like buying council houses or receiving big pay-outs from demutualising the old building societies, the wider social cost has been massive.

English people could enjoy similar services to those in Scotland, if they took control of English politics again.

If any more evidence is needed that Westminster culture is rotten and subservient to the South-east, just compare the levels of investment in London’s rail, airport, housing and Olympic infrastructure with the uncertainty and preconditions attached to Greater Manchester’s transport innovation fund.

Robbie MacDonald, address supplied