Letters to the press, 21/01/22: "Constantly blaming Westminster is a convenient distraction for now, but these failures and others will not be forgotten come the May council elections. Defending a record like this on the doorstep will be rather difficult, especially since breaking up the UK does not provide convincing answers."

No wonder the SNP is keen to oust Boris Johnson despite this being at best a rather short-term gain for long-term pain. It keeps its failures off the front pages. A new year and the catastrophes mount up for the SNP/Green alliance. An out-of-touch and too cautious Covid policy, pupils frightened to go back to the classrooms, the Ferguson shipyard in even more disarray, A&E waiting times at an all-time low, retail businesses losing huge sums of money, underfunded local councils being forced to cut services, all while it raises taxes and does not even have the common sense to put off expensive new fire alarm regulations for hard-pressed homeowners. Constantly blaming Westminster is a convenient distraction for now, but these failures and others will not be forgotten come the May council elections. Defending a record like this on the doorstep will be rather difficult, especially since breaking up the UK does not provide convincing answers. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

While the media and politicians and many of your letter-writers are obsessing about Boris Johnson and what is a party and what isn’t, our Health Secretary is getting away with a woeful performance that is impacting on people’s lives. It is not long since Humza Yousaf advised us to only attend A&E if it were life-threatening and if we had broken bones to attend the minor injuries unit. Now he has asked us not to attend GP practices and to seek alternatives where possible. I know that there are some people who waste doctors’ time but surely it is up to the GPs to deal with the individuals who they know are using the service inappropriately rather than the Health Secretary to put out such a general statement. How long will it be before we are told that we should avoid any activities that might cause us to get ill or injured? Accidents happen and people get ill. We need a health service that can look after us. It is the Scottish Government’s job to protect us, not our job to shield the Scottish NHS. Jane Lax, Aberlour.

NOW that Nicola Sturgeon has deemed it fit for the restrictions imposed hurriedly last month to be lifted (“Scotland to scrap rules as Omicron cases fall”, The Herald, January 19), can we hope to have an investigation of the damage they have done to the hospitality trade in particular? Restaurants, pubs, sporting venues, taxis, and all the unseen army of people who provide services for these facilities have taken another beating, for no apparent reason. It’s almost as if the SNP doesn’t like private business. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

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