YESTERDAY (December 7) your lead letter was headlined “Why should we suffer because of a selfish minority?” From extra taxation on our food, drink and wages to the policing of our own thoughts, to social and sex education in our schools, to the endemic eight-year call for Indyref2; no phrase better encapsulates Scotland under the SNP. David Bone, Girvan.
WE are warned that Kate Forbes’s budget on Thursday will necessarily be hard on some sectors of public spending because of the need to spend extra funds on the NHS, in the wake of the Covid crisis. Yet, at the same time, Nicola Sturgeon is tasking her officials with preparing a prospectus for Indyref2. This is a party political matter, one beyond the remit of Holyrood, given that constitutional issues are reserved, not devolved. Therefore, it is not appropriate for Ms Sturgeon to spend our money on publicly funded officials for work on this project. If the SNP wants a separatist prospectus, let it pay for it. Otherwise, we shall know that party and state are being merged in SNP Scotland. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.
SIR – After Nicola Sturgeon opposed development of the Cambo oil field, Shell pulled out of the project, as the economic case for involvement was no longer worth the uncertainty and political turmoil (report, December 4). While many Holyrood nationalists celebrated the news, importing energy from abroad will be more expensive and do more harm to the planet than using energy on Scotland’s doorstep. It was astonishing to see a Scottish government minister cheering on such serious job losses. This ridiculous virtue-signalling will actually undermine efforts to achieve net-zero. Dr John Cameron St Andrews, Fife