It may be hard for those paying attention to the state of our public services not to become inured to regular statistics chronicling the latest stage of their decline. However, succumbing to the idea that things are only ever going to get worse or letting politicians away with the bogus excuse that the situation is not as bad as somewhere else represents a meek acceptance of defeat that will only add to our woes.

According to new figures, there are now about 1,000 fewer teachers in Scotland than there were in 2007, when the SNP came to power, while the number of pupils has risen by 13,000. There are nearly 25 per cent fewer computer studies teachers, 12 per cent fewer maths teachers and eight per cent fewer physics teachers – all subjects that are important to the modern-day economy.

Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie rightly said that such subjects “open the doors to industries of the future”, adding that “with so few teachers now specialising in them and no sign of action to encourage more teachers into the workforce, the SNP are creating a vicious cycle that diminishes the skills of future generations”.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Politics Matters