Scotland Matters Letters

I’m fascinated by the Scottish Languages Bill which has been introduced in Holyrood. It will give legal recognition of the Scots language for the first time as well as expanding provision for Gaelic. Not only does this demonstrate that the SNP really have their fingers on the, admittedly weak, pulse of the nation. But the real question is: will there be a significantly quicker call-out time if we dial 999 and ask for “Poileas Alba”, “Seirbheis Ambaileans na h-Alba” or the “briogad-smilaidh” in an emergency? David Bone, Girvan, Ayrshire.

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THE latest legal judgement made over the SNP appeal against the blocking of their Gender Reform Bill should be accepted as yet another defeat for the SNP. It would be outrageous for the Nationalists to instruct lawyers at the taxpayers’ expense to make a further appeal to the Supreme Court just to lose the case again. Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

I understand why Stan Grodynski (Letters, 11 December) prefers to write about UK Pisa scores rather than admit how dire Scotland’s performance has been. They have been falling since the first Pisa exercise in 2000. Then, the Scottish scores were 533 for maths, 526 for reading and 522 for science, all comfortably above the Pisa average. After a steady decline in all three subjects, by 2022 the Scottish scores had slumped to 471 (maths), 493 (reading) and 483 (science). Yet Scotland has about 20 per cent more spent on its public services, thanks to the generosity of Mr Barnett, than the UK average. Decline set in before the new curriculum was introduced, yet it has accelerated since its introduction. The one politician who has got to the heart of the matter is the SNP’s Kate Forbes, who recently criticised the prevailing view that “we need to make education simpler and easier in order to ensure everyone is achieving the same”. She continued, heretically, saying that what is needed is “hard work.. aspiration and ambition”. For too long there has been a culture of “all must have prizes”, with no-one winning because no-one can be allowed to lose. Mediocre work is praised to avoid discouraging its author. This reveals a complete failure to understand children’s inherent competitiveness and how they respond to stimulus and to being stretched. Achieving beyond their expectations gives them immense satisfaction. I hope Ms Forbes’ welcome words result in schools valuing hard work and achievement once more and soft-pedalling the current emphasis on social issues and identity. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

I almost choked on my toast on Thursday when I read Communities Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville’s statement on the provision of a welfare state in an independent Scotland. “With independence we believe Scotland can do better … the Scottish Government has demonstrated that things can be done differently, she said Belief is the only asset that nationalists have, as they “believe” Scotland “can” be a better country. However, nothing in the last 16 years has given any proof that Scotland and Scots will benefit from separation; in fact, the opposite is the case. Supporters of an independent Scotland must see that virtually every aspect of Scottish life has been detrimentally affected by the incompetence of this regime: Police Scotland, transport, roads, the NHS, education, ferries, drug deaths, alcohol deaths, Prestwick, Bifab, Gupta, foreign embassies. A failed Scottish energy company, failed Scottish stock exchange, failed DRS, failed Named Person Scheme, failed Hate Crime Bill – and on and on and on. Billions have been spent/wasted on vanity projects which benefited nothing but Nicola Sturgeon’s ego and we have more of the same under Humza Yousaf As Ms Somerville said: “The Scottish Government has demonstrated that things can be done differently” – how right she is, but all to the detriment of Scotland. Douglas Cowe, Newmachar.

Our “pretendy” world leader seems to have breached long-standing protocols by doing this and strayed into territory which is the prerogative of the UK Government. In keeping with Scottish Government practice, no doubt there will be no record of the meeting, only the participants will be aware of whether the First Minister showed his displeasure with UK government policies. It’s hardly the type of action which will improve trust between Westminster and Holyrood. Perhaps Lord Dave should go ahead with his threat to kick out the “pretendy” Scottish embassies from UK embassies overseas. Then again, it might have been more beneficial for the First Minister to have stayed at home and attended to more pressing matters like combating violence in schools and improving the educational prospects for our children! Bob MacDougall, Kippen, Stirlingshire.

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