Letter: Holyrood itself is surely ripe for cutting

Your editorial (18 June) rightly points out the crying need for action by the SNP administration to be taken now on balancing the country's books, not postponing in cowardly fashion for fear of losing votes at the next Holyrood election. This would of course require real principle and doing what is right, not what is politically expedient, perhaps not the SNP's strongest suit.

In the editorial's list of unnecessary, duplicated and superfluous institutions the biggest of them all is excluded – Holyrood itself. Why do Scottish people alone on this planet need a local councillor, an MSP, a List MSP, an MP and an MEP to represent them?

Each representative has generous salary, staff and expenses. We managed for many years with no Holyrood.

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At one stroke doing away with Holyrood would remove two levels and they could be replaced by our Westminster MPs sitting part-time, thereby releasing hundreds of millions of pounds. It beggars belief that we can discuss savings and the biggest anomaly of them all, the elephant in the room, Holyrood, remains sacrosanct.

ALEXANDER McKAY

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh

Your editorial regarding public spending cuts accuses the SNP government of postponing cuts – which we've all been aware were in the pipeline for a long time – for political reasons.

While this is undoubtedly true, it is depressing on at least two counts: firstly that a government can care more about its own power trip than the health of the country it is supposed to care so deeply about.

And secondly, that it thinks voters would be so daft as to not equate these cuts with anything that has happened in the past year and blame them solely on the Scottish Government.

These gripes aside, it's clear that the plump bureaucracy of Holyrood could do with a bit of a trim.

J DALY

Albert Place

Edinburgh

I can't be the only one feeling a bit terrified about the next few years when all the public sector slashing kicks in.

I'm picturing 1980s-stye dole queues, a burning hatred for the Tories, then the same thing happening all over again. Why do we never seem to learn from history?

KEVIN McINTOSH

Trinity Road

Edinburgh