Dear {name}

Honesty is out of fashion. The status quo is broken. Tory or Labour, Westminster ignores Scotland’s priorities and overrides our choices.

With policy choices like Labour’s new tax on jobs and their attacks on disabled people and pensioners are causing real harm. And if Farage gains power, the threat to our rights and public services will only deepen.

And then we have the scandals - Labour’s Mandelson scandal has multiple elements and the potential to grow — alleged links to Epstein, claims about the leaking of sensitive material, reported lobbying links with Palantir, and his involvement with Labour Together.

There is no doubt that the Prime Minister knew about Mandelson’s association with Epstein and appointed him anyway. That judgement has rightly angered many, not least because victims and voters deserved far better than excuses and obfuscation.

John Swinney is right this affair has pulled back the curtain on a Westminster system people already felt was broken. Whether Starmer survives or not, the same culture of insiders, patronage and opaque networks remains. Reports of Labour Together’s role and questions about candidate selections in Scotland only add to the unease about who really pulls the strings.

With a police investigation now underway, this story is not going away.

For people across Scotland, this isn’t just about one man. It is about a system that repeatedly rewards those at the centre while ordinary people pay the price — from the financial crash to today’s cost of living crisis.

The choice in May is becoming clearer. We can stay tied to this broken system, or we can choose a fresh start with independence and build a Scotland where power truly rests with the people who live here.

Yours for Scotland,

Martyn Day

SNP Candidate for Falkirk East and Linlithgow

PS - if you are enjoying these newsletters please pass them on to a friend or two.