Swinney right to grasp nettle on rail link

Published on Friday 18 September 2009 18:59

Forced by circumstance he may have been, however, in unveiling his £35 billion budget plans (your report, 18 September), finance secretary John Swinney should be congratulated on having the courage and honesty to grasp the nettle in making the necessary cuts, not least the Glasgow airport rail link, to ensure vital public services are protected.

It is now up to the other parties at Holyrood, not least Labour, who are in large part responsible for the mess we are in, to take a reality check, and start working together to see this country through the dire financial straits it is now in. The predictable, wearisome political grandstanding from the likes of shadow finance secretary Andy Kerr has to stop.

NEIL McKINNON

Tulchan Garden

Glenalmond, Perthshire

Labour's crocodile tears over the decision to shelve, for now, the Glasgow airport rail link will not fool anyone. The decision has been made directly as a result of spending cuts imposed on the Scottish Government by Chancellor Alistair Darling.

The SNP government is spending 5 million on regeneration projects in Maryhill, Bridgeton and Govanhill. It is providing better public transport to the Southern General and Commonwealth Games site, and it is completing the M74. People in Glasgow know the SNP is still on their side.

PATRICK GRADY

Dunchattan Street

Glasgow

Why has the Scottish Government chosen to abandon the Glasgow airport rail link, which would have been of lasting benefit to the people of Scotland whilst still proposing to squander money on mere public entertainment in the shape of the 2014 Commonwealth Games?

In the light of their continuing "war on alcohol", is this the modern equivalent of beer and circuses?

JOHN EOIN DOUGLAS

Spey Terrace

Edinburgh

John Swinney's draft Scottish budget for 2010-11, presented to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, confirms a gaping black hole in funding for Scotland's struggling construction industry, which demands to be filled.

The 294 million of accelerated capital spending brought forward into this year's Scottish budget was badly needed by an industry struggling through lean times. But the consequence is, for instance, a 33 per cent cut in spending on affordable housing next year.

As we start to make the first tentative steps towards recovery, to make such drastic cuts in construction-related spending would be an absolute disaster.

A period of tough negotiation between Holyrood and Whitehall is bound to follow this week's announcement. I hope both sides can put politics aside and recognise the overriding importance of prioritising spending on major capital projects to deliver sustainable economic recovery and to prevent a second slump in the building sector.

MICHAEL LEVACK

Chief executive

Scottish Building Federation

Crichton's Close

Edinburgh