Readers' Letters: UK Government out to destroy our democracy

Allan Thompson (Letters, 4 June) needs to take a look at the UK government as it is truly “embarrassing”, “incompetent” and a serious threat to democracy.

Nicola Sturgeon at Westminster, which undermines Scotland at every turn, says reader (Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty)

The UK government is systematically undermining democratic institutions post Brexit. It has undermined the courts, human rights, compromised the independence of the Electoral Commission and BBC and passed legislation which basically supresses the vote in the UK. The UK Government is moving to emasculate independent Holyrood by interfering in its right to legislate as they ride over the Scotland Act. They have seized on the GRR and DRS legislation, and before that Bills on children’s rights, local government and Brexit.

GRR is in action in around 30 countries without problems. It is about birth and death certificates in a reform for a tiny group of people. The UK was to make this reform and accepts the legislation in other countries. It then did a U-turn using Section 35 in an unprecedented manner, basically taking a sledgehammer to Holyrood’s powers.

DRS legislation is also widely in force in other countries – in fact, 45 countries. Similar schemes were set to come into effect in the UK, including England and Northern Ireland, in 2025. Wales has a scheme including bottles accepted by the UK Government. The legislation was passed in the Scottish Parliament in 2020.

Scotland needs to wrench itself away from Westminster, says reader (Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Now the UK government wants glass taken out of the scheme. They were also lobbied by an industry group who wanted glass removed. The Tories then received a £20,000 donation from the Wine and Spirits Trade Association.

Scotland needs to act fast to get away from the anti-democratic and lawless power grabs from Westminster. It needs independence, a constitution and its own currency and to be close to the EU to govern for the majority

Pol Yates, Edinburgh

Bottled it

It is not surprising that the Scottish deposit return scheme has been abandoned as it was ill-conceived unworkable and failed to win support from the drinks industry.

The inevitable legal arguments will now proceed for compensation and will probably succeed as the scheme was being forced through by Green Minister Lorna Slater – like driving a square peg into a round hole.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Bucksburn, Aberdeen

AI, right!

The potential for artificial intelligence is awesome – AI has great potential for giving us perfect politics and governance

I read recently that it can create exam answers, student essays, literature, music and art.

It could even replace Holyrood politicians who increasingly rely on speeches and “ministerial statements” scripted by SPADs or civil servants which they struggle to read out, only to be replied to by their similarly armed debating partners, often in English and confected, error-strewn “Scoddish”.

A good bilingual AI system could do all of that, for example a human- free debate on GERS or the GRS, and come up with the right solution, including bombproof legislation, arranging finance and procurement, in seconds.

Computerised chess games have been doing this for years, so why not devolved Scotland?

We wouldn't need MSPs, civil servants or even voters, and the indy question, for example, could be solved and enacted by tomorrow.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

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