Readers' Letters: Scots actors living abroad should keep quiet on constitution

Brian Cox has made it very clear he has no intention of coming back to this country to live. He is happy in New York and intends only to return to Scotland when dead. I am happy to see a fellow human and brilliant actor content with his life but have one niggle only.

Award-winning Scottish actor Brian Cox has homes in New York and London

If Mr Cox – and his fellow luvvies of Scots origin now resident in the USA of similar views who continually comment on the political and constitutional situation here in the UK – cannot see that it is wrong to be urging others to take a course of action which will have no bearing whatsoever on the actors' way of life in the luxury of their adopted surroundings but which may well impoverish many people in Scotland, is morally repugnant.

He is, of course, entitled to his say, as we all are. But this is all horribly wrong. The Scots luvvies in the USA commenting on the Scottish constitution and using their fame as a conduit to do so, love Scotland so much they will do anything, anything, but come and live here and suffer the certain consequences of what they propose.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Wasteful SNP

Leah Gunn Barrett puts up a woeful defence for the SNP government against accusations of squandering public money and of making deplorable spending decisions (Letters, 14 January). Her defence is that Westminster does not give the SNP government enough money. She thinks that if public funds are being wasted on a grand scale, the solution is to give the SNP Government even more money to waste on an even grander scale. What a ridiculous response.

Just think of some of the cuts that the SNP government has made recently – to the mental health budget, child poverty and housing support, while imposing a council tax freeze which benefits middle-class home-owners most. The SNP have decided to cut support for people in real need while giving a freebie to the better-off. That is a policy decision which has nothing to do with Westminster. It is a policy decision by ruthless, desperate SNP politicians who are prepared to bribe middle-class voters at the expense of the sick and the needy in our society. That bribe to the better-off also means that local councils have had their budgets cut, which in turn means less money for schools and care homes.

The waste of public money by the SNP government is a disaster for Scotland. The number of quangos with people sitting on fine salaries and ensconced in fine offices keeps going up, just as the number of ministers and special advisers at Holyrood keeps going up. For example, the pretend embassy in Brussels costs £1.5 million per year and there are 30 more of such offices all over the world, needlessly duplicating UK offices. All that money should be spent on the people here in Scotland who are in dire need.

There is no point in raising this issue with our First Minister. He is as guilty as the rest, squandering money on ego-trips to Dubai, New York and Istanbul, for example, which bring absolutely no benefit to Scotland and lie well outside his job description. No, the only way to stop this haemorrhage of public funds and restore integrity to our government finances is to get rid of the SNP. The sooner, the better.

Les Reid, Edinburgh

Ban owners

What ghastly creatures XL Bully dogs are (Letters, 14 January). Whatever must their owners be like. Surely it is they who should be banned?

Malcolm Parkin, Kinnesswood, Kinross

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