Scotland Matters Letters

In the last two weeks one of your most published letter writers, Leah Gunn Barrett, has excelled herself in finding reasons for Scotland needing to leave the UK. The reasons have ranged from a state that does not invest in its people – that would be the UK government that offered unprecedented support during the Covid lockdown, providing furlough for all those who without it would have ended up homeless and penniless. Then we have the criticism of Labour’s claims that they will transform the UK into a clean energy superpower. Never any question of how Scotland can afford this. The bottomless pit is at the end of the SNP rainbow no doubt. A further letter claimed that the UK pays lip service to the free market and that the UK government embraces non-productive industry. The United Kingdom government does more for industrial growth than the SNP could ever do, unless we are talking about how long it can keep shipbuilders in employment for two ferries. The United Kingdom government has recently announced UK investment zones in Scotland around Glasgow and Aberdeen in conjunction with the Scottish Government which include amongst others advanced manufacturing. So much for neglecting non-productive industry. The SNP leader has committed to joining Nato, which does not agree with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Unless Yousaf is wanting to have his cake and eat it, he will have to choose which side of the fence he is going to fall on. I think that a person who sees one solution to all issues in Scotland is either too lazy to think of other solutions or too brainwashed into believing that separation from the rest of the UK is the answer. Life is not that simple. Jane Lax, Aberlour.

In all the hand-wringing about the two-child benefit cap I’m amazed Scottish Labour and Conservative politicians aren’t pointing out that in England from April next year the government will phase in 30 hours of childcare per week for children as young as nine months. Keir Starmer supports the policy. In Scotland this benefit only starts for children aged three and the SNP-Greens have no plans to extend it. The cost of childcare is a huge barrier for people returning to work, especially single parents, and is one of the reasons for Scotland’s declining birth rate and skilled labour shortage. Pretty galling when you realise the £65 million claim the SNP-Greens face from Biffa for losses incurred over the deposit return scheme would pay for one million days of childcare at £65 per day. Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.

SCOTLAND’S reputation for being a great country to live in has been trashed by the SNP and Greens on so many occasions that most of us have lost count. Unbuilt ferries, poor education, long waits for NHS treatment. The list is long. Soft justice is in the mix too, so what will our legal system do to five eco-protestors who have set Scotland’s reputation back yet again with a dangerous protest at the world cycling event? Community service? Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

Share this entry