Letter: Clean bill

Douglas Cowe (Letters, 11 December) imagines that we can "sort part of the financial position" by closing the "embarrassing, obscenely expensive talking shop at the foot of the Royal Mile".

Unfortunately for Mr Cowe, most people are in favour of Holyrood. Mr Cowe, of course, is entitled to disagree with my view, but to describe Holyrood as "embarrassing" indicates that he may already have forgotten the disgrace of the "expenses scandal" at Westminster and the subsequent appearance of MPs in court.

As for "obscene", Westminster, Washington and, unfortunately Labour in Scotland, grubbed around in the same gutter over the Scottish Government's release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi in an attempt to make political capital out of one of most awful tragedies ever to take place in these islands.

Professor James Mitchell, the head of the School of Government and Public Policy at Strathclyde University, wrote "the devolved government behaved impeccably".

When did Mr Cowe last hear Westminster so described?

BILL McLEAN

Newmills

Dunfermline, Fife