Investing in Scotland

Allan Wilson (Letters, 1 February) is fond of attaching random costs to SNP policies, but he never publishes the research used to reach those figures. We know from answers to parliamentary questions that the civil service has not produced such costings, so where does he get his figures from?

Just as the SNP plans to give 150,000 small businesses a boost by allowing them to reinvest much of the money they currently pay in business rates, our plans to invest in education by removing the massive burden of debt from graduates is about investing in Scotland's future.

Education should be seen as an investment, not a drain on resources - and government policy should encourage more educated young people to stay in Scotland.

JIM MATHER, MSP

SNP enterprise spokesman

Scottish Parliament