Readers' Letter: Please forgive us, First Minister

As a Scottish citizen I feel it is incumbent on me to apologise on behalf of us all to the First Minister for the problems we are giving her.

Are Scots letting down Nicola Sturgeon?

We clearly are the sort of people who when entering a premises selling alcohol between noon and 6pm cannot refrain from drinking too much then lurching about infecting everyone around us with Covid-19. We appear to have the attention span of a gnat and therefore need to be told five days a week, every week, that we should wash our hands to reduce infection etc. We require guidance in rearing our children, including how instil discipline, or indeed not instil discipline. We also need someone external to look over our shoulder to make sure we are on the right track. We seem to be the type of people who have nasty thoughts and make ill-judged and inappropriate remarks which cause offence and therefore require draconian laws to make sure we stop all this disgraceful behaviour.

All in all we Scots are a pretty feckless bunch and it is such a blessing that we have a First Minister who really knows what is good for us. Indeed, I look forward to that happy Independence Day when we can all be microchipped and follow Ms Sturgeon unquestioningly on the road to righteousness.

Eric Cartwright, Stirling Road, Edinburgh

Learn lessons

In response to the letter by Robert Scott (December 15) I find myself with split loyalties. I worry that this, “we’re all doomed”, forecast will turn some swing voters towards the nationalist agenda. We are a proud people and we love being the underdog, with a point to prove. All too often, when told we cannot do something, we have a tendency to stick two fingers up and shout “Oh do you bloody think so,” to quote the Big Yin.

We are an industrious people, which will rise to the challenge and thrive, just like so many other small nations, as an independent state or part of a union. So the question should not be, “will we survive?”, but “will we succeed most independently or in a union?”

Both will work, but which is best? So, I urge my Unionist fellows to re-direct their focus and tell the story about why the Union offers more opportunities to shine, to rise and be a leading light within a United Kingdom. They should highlight the benefits of shared costs, ideas and that a bigger voice in the world will bring us more prosperity than we will achieve alone. Not as a result of charity, but because we are part of something bigger.

We should learn a lesson from the Europe debate, when the remainers constant negativity about Britain’s prosperity, outside the Union, did not win the argument, much to my despair. Let us listen to the lessons of the past.

Derek G Scott, Carmunnock, Glasgow

Down for count

Yet again, Mary Thomas claims that Scotland's deficit of £15 billion is a myth (Letters, 16 December). So yet again let me point out the SNP government’s own financial figures. Tax revenue, including North Sea revenues, for 2019-2020 in Scotland was £66 billion. Public spending in Scotland was £81 billion. Deficit £15 billion. Fact not fantasy. That is 8.6 per cent of Scotland's GDP, which is 6 per cent higher than the figure for the UK as a whole. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Scotland's implicit deficit for 2020-2021 could be as high as 28 per cent. It has also been forecast that by 2024-2025 the deficit will be around 11 per cent. The figures are regarding Scotland as part of the UK and supported by the UK's financial safety net.

Independence will, of course, give Scotland full Fiscal Autonomy. It will not change the deficit one iota. In fact our deficit will be appreciably worse as we will have to borrow on our own as well as bear our share of UK debt and pay interest on our profligacy. As part of the UK, Scotland, like Wales, Northern Ireland and most of the English regions, pays nothing towards the UK's spend on Defence, Foreign affairs etc, etc. With Independece we will have to pay our own way and that will put an end once and for all to independista economic delusions and introduce Scots to brutal economic reality. There will be no nationalist tomorrow of sunshine and roses but a dreich an snell outlook that will last for generations.

If Mary Thomas can produce any reputable economist who will support the idea that Scotland's deficit is a “myth” then let's hear about it.

Stuart Stephen, Inverasdale, Poolewe, Ross-shire

German woes

The current situation in Germany helps to confirm that Mary Thomas's claim that Boris Johnson was personally responsible for the UK rate of infection/death (including Scotland?) during the current pandemic is sheer nonsense and yet another example of disgracefully using people's misery and suffering for petty political point scoring .

(Dr) A McCormick, Kirkland Road, Terregles, Dumfries

Future is now

In reference to the estimated GERS paper, Mary Thomas says it "does not tell us how an independent Scotland would perform". We don't need the paper to tell us because we already know. We just need to consider Prestwick Airport, Ferguson Marine, BiFab, the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital, the Named Persons Scheme, the Hate Crime Bill and Scotland's drug deaths. They tell us how an SNP-led government performs… out of its depth. And how many people knew we had a "public health minister" in Joe FitzPatrick? Why has Ms Sturgeon kept him hidden during the Covid pandemic?

Jim Houston, Winton Gardens, Edinburgh

Deaths disgrace

Joe Fitzpatrick, the SNP minister responsible for Public Health, described the 1,264 deaths due to drugs in Scotland in 2019 as a tragedy. No, Mr Fitzpatrick, you’re wrong. A tragedy is a natural catastrophe, such as an earthquake. This is a scandal. Drug deaths in Scotland in 2009 were 545. They have more than doubled in ten years and we have the worst record in Europe. In 2007/8, £173 million was spent on Alcohol and Drug Partnerships. This had fallen to £53.8 million in 2017/18. And yet when asked what the issue is, you can rely on the Scottish Government to claim it needs more powers. If that really were true, why is Scotland’s death rate three and a half times that of the rest of the UK?

This is a disgrace that reflects on us as a nation but it is down to the government to implement the changes required. If only the SNP could put as much effort into improving the lives of people in Scotland as they do into arguing for independence.

Jane Lax, Aberlour

Who’s laughing?

It was with hilarity that I read the attempt by Richard Allison to put a gloss on the state of the opposition parties in Holyrood (Letters, December 16). Between them, the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems could only muster 8 per cent more of the votes in the election. Mr Allison also has some disparaging words for the Greens, but he might consider that opposition percentage he quotes won them 60 seats, of which 46 were Regional list seats, like the six won by the Greens. In the head-to-head contests in the constituencies the opposition parties won 14 seats in total while the SNP won 63. This is how democracy of the majority works.

As for the comments from Andrew Kemp (Letters, same day) that only 37 per cent of the electorate voted for independence in the referendum, he fails to mention that only 47 per cent of the electorate voted to stay in the Union. In other words, a minority. And with 16 consecutive polls showing sustained support for independence supporting parties, the election in May will determine who is in the majority, who is in the minority and who has the last laugh.Gill Turner, Derby Street, Edinburgh

Dark forces

Although Nicola Sturgeon quite rightly said Margaret Ferrier MP should resign and has had ample time to do the honourable thing, there is currently still no sign of that happening. The First Minister has hammered home the message that it’s very important to stay at home if you have symptoms that may be caused by coronavirus and that household isolation will help to control the spread of the virus to friends, the wider community and the most vulnerable. Margaret Ferrier, for reasons known only to herself, ignored that advice and risked infecting so many people by her irresponsible actions.

However on the plus side, the longer she resists resigning as an MP the more embarrassment is heaped on the SNP, especially when every day her dear leader stands up with her team and spouts the tired old Covid messages. Could there be dark forces at work here regarding her apparent reluctance to resign? Could the reason be that if a by-election was called a certain Mr George Galloway would be standing for his new Alliance for Unity Party? Now in the current climate, how interesting would that be?Mike Miller, Craigievar Avenue, Carron, Falkirk

Shocking figures

Yesterday The National Records of Scotland said deaths where Novel Covid 19 is mentioned on the death certificate now stand at 6,092. This puts the deaths per million of the Scottish population at 1,118 since the pandemic began in February.Compared to European figures this puts Scotland in the top five countries affected by the pandemic, with Belgium at an incredible 1,565 deaths per million. It is imperative that our population heed the sensible advice by observing social distancing, wearing an effective face covering when mingling with fellow citizens and cleaning hands thoroughly after every contact with door handles and other surfaces in shared common use.Don't let us get another bad record to be ashamed of after the Scottish drug death statistics announced on Tuesday.

Archie Burleigh, Meigle, Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire

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