Readers' Letters: Not all Westminster grievances are 'manufactured'

Martin Redfern seems obsessed with Nicola Sturgeon (Letters, 17 April), and the “manufactured grievances” with Westminster were validated this week by the head of the civil service in Scotland, John-Paul Marks, who told MPs on Tuesday that UK ministers had flouted the Sewel Convention, which dictates that Westminster does not legislate in devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Government, “on a number of occasions” in recent years. He also said that the controversial Internal Market Act, the devolution-busting legislation which helped scupper the deposit return scheme, had changed the nature of devolution.

John-Paul Marks is Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government (Picture: Andrew Cowan-Pool/Getty Images)

Under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership, Scotland’s public services are in a better state than elsewhere in the UK. In transport, she delivered the under budget new Queensferry Crossing and increased rail services, with the nationalised ScotRail the best performing in the UK, while modernising stations and increasing free bus travel.

Nicola Sturgeon did more for women, children and the poorest in society than any of her predecessors, thus making Scotland a much fairer place in which to live. In addition to the baby box, she established a new social security system, including the Scottish Child Payment, which is the most ambitious anti-poverty measure anywhere in the UK. Free childcare was expanded and the Carer’s Allowance Supplement, gives 84,000 carers in Scotland the most generous support in the UK, was brought in.

Under the SNP many more affordable homes were built than under the previous Scottish Executive, plus there was a record number of new schools.

Scotland has the best-performing NHS in the UK, with more doctors, dentists, nurses and hospital beds per head. The educational attainment gap has narrowed to 16 per cent compared to the pre-Covid level of 16.9 per cent in 2019 and last year 95.7 per cent of all school levers went on to positive destinations.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

Minus 200 years

Robert I G Scott’s letter of 17 April repeats two inaccurate phrases which appear all too often in letters to The Scotsman.

The first, “the unelected Greens”, ignores that the seven Scottish Green regional MSPs and the Presiding Officer were in fact elected by voters in Scotland through the regional MSP ballot papers. They are as much elected MSPs as the regional MSPs Anas Sarwar and Douglas Ross.

The second, the “300-year-old UK”, refers to an entity with changes in composition and name since 1707. The 1707 parliamentary union of Scotland and England (which included Wales) created the “Kingdom of Great Britain”. The Act of Union of 1800 added the kingdom of Ireland, and in 1801 the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” was created. The establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, and the loss of most of Ireland, led to the 1927 renaming of the remaining entity as the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

A more accurate phrase would be the “100-year-old UK”.

E Campbell, Newton Mearns, East, Renfrewshire

Time for shake-up?

With a general election fast approaching, the Labour Party has been lining up its heavy artillery. Recently, policy research undertaken by Harvard University in partnership with former Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls identifies chronic underinvestment in local transport, innovation and STEM skills as fundamental constraints to two of the UK’s biggest economic challenges: anaemic long-term productivity growth and gross regional inequality. Interestingly, further devolution/decentralisation away from London and the South-East emerges from the research as a key proposal going forward. Most likely this will build on the Mayoral City-Region model already in place down South.

Should Labour come to power, it is unclear how further devolution might play out north of the Border. Could elected Mayor-led City-Regions have a future here in promoting more accountable devolution and stimulating more dynamic economic and social development? Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas: resistance from Holyrood to the threat of any loss or watering down of its hard-won powers could well be fierce.

Implicit in any reorganisation of this sort would be the need for a reappraisal of how economic and business development is conducted at the City-Region level: what are the key functions/roles needed going forward; how might these be best deployed in partnership at the local, national, and international levels; and how can a larger and deeper pool of talented economic development professionals be created? How would inter-city/region cooperation be promoted, and rivalry managed – so there are more “win-wins” and fewer “win-lose” outcomes?

These functions would also need some protection from the perennial danger of public sector “budget bun fights”.

Labour – and other parties – have some hard thinking to do before a feasible and effective proposal on Devo Mark 2 – or something of that ilk – can be put to the Scottish electorate.

Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire

Double standards

On 1 April the government of Israel, in flagrant violation of international law, blew up the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. This killed 15 people, including two generals. ​It was an attack on sovereign Iranian territory. No government in the world would simply shrug its shoulders and accept such an act.

The “line” coming from Nato countries is that their proxies can commit any action, kill as many people and do as much damage as they wish without consequence. However, should an official enemy respond, condemnation will be swift and overwhelming. “Because we say so” is the Nato line. There hasn't been a single word of condemnation from Washington, Westminster or Paris, let alone action to stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza over the last six months. In fact it is the opposite – the Western nations have supplied the bombs that continue to maim and kill tens of thousands in Palestine. They then provide diplomatic cover for these crimes to Israel. The Iranian attack on Israel’s purpose was not to kill, it was to establish deterrence. Iran gave 72 hours notice and sent its slowest drones. Nobody was killed, although one seven-year old was injured by falling debris.

The cost to Iran of sending the drones was in the tens of millions of dollars. The cost to Israel/US/UK to defend Israel was anything from $1-3 billion. Taxpayers in these countries may wish to ask how such sums can suddenly be “found” in a time of austerity, crumbling infrastructure and shrinking wages.

Any escalation of the conflict with Iran would lead to a collapse in the global economy. Right away Iran would block the Strait of Hormuz. This would mean 30 per cent of the world’s oil supply would no longer be available. Petrol prices would sky rocket. There would be no diesel for trucks to deliver supplies. As a result there would be food shortages and massive price increases.

This is why Joe Biden has told Benjamin Netanyahu the US will not join in any Israeli retaliation on Iran. However, Netanyahu knows that by doing nothing his government may collapse.

If Netanyahu does retaliate it will be for entirely selfish reasons of self-preservation, the consequence of which could be nuclear war. The only force capable of stopping this is a unified international anti-war campaign.

Alan Hinnrichs, Dundee

Stand with Israel

Blessed with a large, young and highly educated population, vast deposits of oil, a 3,000-year long history and a distinctive culture, Iran should be a wealthy, successful and happy country. Unfortunately, the religious fanatics who govern it have only two priorities – setting the Middle East on fire and wiping out Israel with its Jewish people.

The welfare of the Iranian people is a matter of complete indifference to them.

This is the country where only 19 months ago a young woman, Mahsa Amini, was beaten to death by the ironically named Morality Police for not covering her hair properly. This led to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and the murder by the regime of hundreds of protesters.

What is truly frightening is that Iran not only has ballistic missiles but is far down the path to nuclear weapons.

For our own sake as much as for the peoples of the Middle East, we should stand with Israel in whatever action they deem necessary to take against the Iranian regime.

Otto Inglis, Ansonhill, Fife

Fuming at error?

In my letter yesterday (17 April) I referred to the Mogogo, the Eritrean wood-burning stove developed by Debesai Ghebrehiwet. I have since been informed by an Eritrean acquaintance that it has a small chimney which carries a “significantly reduced” amount of smoke away so, contrary to what I stated, it is not totally smoke-free.

Its main benefits are that it uses up to 50 per cent less fuel and it can work with a mixture of wood and cow dung! The Mogogo needs occasional tending while in operation, so it may need to be modified where the requirement is exclusively for heating rather than cooking.

In an associated project, senior schoolchildren spend two weeks of their last summer holidays as part of their national service planting trees in a reforestation programme designed to ensure long term supplies of fuel This has a better than net zero outcome, as the carbon is captured before it is used as fuel.

Francis Roberts, Edinburgh

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line – be specific. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.