Letters: Career politicians are letting Scotland down

The Ferguson ferry fiasco has once again highlighted the complete dearth of business and engineering expertise within this inept Scottish Government.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon flanked by Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, now Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights, and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity respectively (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Instead of creating meaningful ministerial posts for business and technology populated by people with experience in these fields, the SNP are happy to fill these posts with career politicians or create posts with titles that wouldn’t be out of place in Yes Minister for their Green buddies.

As Brian Wilson points out (Perspective, 26 March), this whole fiasco was a direct result of political posturing and interference by the SNP ahead of the Referendum in 2014, and highlights one example of the dire consequences for the Scottish people if they had succeeded in their aim. When John Swinney was pressed in Parliament for assistance to beleaguered residents in the North East who had lost power as a result of Storm Arwen, his response was that the government could not get involved with the private sector in such matters. How ironic, then, that they are involved, up to their armpits, in this Ferry fiasco!

Also ironic is the deafening silence from the Greens on this issue, despite the fact that these unique dual-fuelled ships were lauded by Sturgeon at the time as showing the way forward for British shipbuilding. Powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and marine gas oil, one wonders where this fuel will come from given their antipathy to hydrocarbons and whether such a unique design is part of the problem. There are probably several European companies who could design and build conventional ferries at a fraction of the cost and deliver them on time, but yet again, in Sturgeon’s Scotland, we have to be different!

Sturgeon says that her Cabinet has a collective responsibility for such decisions, no single person is to blame. Well if this fiasco is an example of such an approach, surely when it goes as wrong as this, they should all resign – and the sooner the better.

George M Primrose, Uddingston, Glasgow

Wake up, Scotland

The Scottish Government has become more than a somewhat controversial administration. Fewer than half of the electorate support this extremist grouping of SNP and Green Party figures. On their watch there has been no apparent improvement in key areas of the delegated powers such as health, education and transport, and much help is required from the Westminster Exchequer in matters relating to the economy.

Surely it is obvious to all clear-thinking folks that the very idea of Scotland ever becoming independent would be a complete disaster – economically, industrially and structurally. Already under the SNP the Scottish Parliament has restricted debate on key issues – any dissent to the SNP cause is treated with contempt and derision. Democracy is restricted in favour of what can only be deemed to be a one-party system. Surely none of this bodes well for Scotland's future?

This is certainly not what was envisaged by the founding fathers from the Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrat Parties when they created the Scottish Executive in 1999. Their aim was to deal with matters directly relating to Scotland at the Edinburgh Parliament. Affairs of State would still be the prerogative of Westminster.

Wake up Scotland, before the present SNP /Green Party joint administration drives this “wee” country into penury.

Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife

Mere mimicry

Your correspondent Fraser Grant is to be commended for his convincing Nicola Sturgeon impression (Letters, 26 March). When asked in Holyrood to explain current failings by opposition MSPs, Sturgeon more than occasionally responds by citing some supposed Labour/Tory misdemeanour, frequently irrelevant and often years ago, successfully bypassing the question. So when it comes to flawed SNP decision-making over the Ferguson shipyard resulting in significant overspends and delays, Mr Grant, keenly defending all things SNP, rattles on about Brexit, renovating Westminster buildings and Thatcher (who resigned over three decades ago and has been dead almost ten years).Decent attempt to mimic SNP establishment deflection and obfuscation from Mr Grant – surely Nicola would be awfully proud?

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire

War crimes

The UN rights office has announced that 1,081 civilians have died, and 1,707 have been injured in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on 24 February. While we readers of The Scotsman sit at home reading the news coming out of the beleaguered country, families are being literally ripped apart as their homes are demolished by Russian shells.

Vladimir Putin is now accusing the west of discrimination against Russian culture, due to the cancellation of events involving Russian artists in some western countries. He compares this move to the burning of books by Nazi supporters in the 1930s. A strange analogy, since many would say that Nazi intolerance and censorship is now being repeated by his own regime.

Putin has chosen to interpret this reaction as the cancellation by the West of a “thousand-year culture, our people”. Any criticism of Russian actions, no matter how justified, is viewed as evidence of anti-Russian bias. It’s difficult to have a rational exchange of opinions when one of the contenders has built a defensive wall against any threat, real or imaginary, from those who do not share his views.

The US has now formally accused the Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine. This is based on footage showing civilians being bombarded by Russian shells as they queue for aid in Kharkiv.

War is horrendous even when those fighting are well trained and equally matched. When they’re people, like us, who are just trying to survive and live their lives in peace, it becomes a shocking example of man’s inhumanity to man, woman and child.

Carolyn Taylor, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

No shame

Yet another celebrity demands an apology from Britain; this time it is Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg, who demands The Queen herself apologise for slavery and the British Empire. Even allowing for the wickedness of slavery, Britain’s achievements have on balance been overwhelmingly positive. Firstly, the world owes thanks to Britain for the Industrial Revolution, which massively increased living standards, and with them, life expectancy throughout most parts of the world.

It also made Britain wealthy enough for the Royal Navy to spend decades from 1807 suppressing the Atlantic slave trade. And then by 1833, Britain was rich enough to peacefully overcome the opposition to abolition by compensating the owners of more than 800,000 enslaved people.

Secondly, we forget quite how large Britain’s contribution to the scientific revolution was. Where would science be without the contributions of, for example, Sir Isaac Newton, James Hutton, James Clark Maxwell and Charles Darwin?

And thirdly, we owe modern ideas of fundamental rights and democracy to the English Common Law and the Anglo-Scottish Enlightenment. The Bill of Rights, which is the crux of the US Constitution, did not spring up out of nowhere, it was inspired by events and legal principles in Britain.

Rather than demanding apologies, Ms Goldberg and others would do better to thank Britain for its overwhelmingly positive contribution over several centuries to making the world far richer and far freer.

Otto Inglis, Ansonhill, Fife

On your bike

Jill Stephenson does not detail who gets the “goodies” in either Rishi Sunak’s cruel austerity mini-budget or in regard to the bicycle schemes of the Scottish Government (Letters, 26 March).

Mr Sunak’s budget favours the better off. Of every £3 of new help provided by the chancellor £2 will go to people in the top half of the income distribution. Households still face a £20 billion hit to their disposable incomes from rising food, fuel and utilities prices over the next couple of years. Living standards will still be cut by more than 2 per cent. Those on state benefits, the most vulnerable, will be badly hit on top of cuts, due to the National Insurance contributions rise with which they will not receive help.

On the issue of bicycles, the Scottish Government has rightly taken a very different approach, responding to the fact that households with an income of £15,000 or less often do not have access to bikes, by funding some 500 loans. These, with no upfront payments, are being offered by two credit unions and the Cycling UK charity to help people buy a bike outright The scheme is open to any adult eligible to join the Capital or Scotwest credit unions. This includes people who live or work in the 21 local authorities covered by the two credit unions, people who work for one of 186 partner employers of the credit unions, Young Scot Card holders aged 18 or over and members of Community Trade Union.

Or a person can borrow up to £6,000 interest-free towards the cost of e-bikes or adapted cycles. This is funded from Transport Scotland (an agency of the Scottish Government).

Pol Yates, Edinburgh

Freedom!

There is only one SNP freebie that I am interested in, and that is freedom: freedom to create an equal society; freedom to welcome much-needed New Scots; freedom to travel, work and learn in Europe; freedom for companies to expand their markets through collective bargaining power; freedom to choose renewables over drilling for oil; freedom to reject nuclear weapons. Independence for Scotland is the ultimate freedom, luckily most of the Scottish electorate agree with me and have voted for SNP majorities at Holyrood and Westminster since 2011.

Frances Scott, Edinburgh

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