Readers' Letters: Baby boxes embody everything wrong with SNP government

Nicola Sturgeon was proud of a scheme which saw all new parents given a Finnish-inspired 'baby box' packed full of clothes, nappies and toys (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

In the midst of savage cuts to compensate for years of blatant profligacy with our taxes, the SNP have decided to keep Nicola Sturgeon's masterstroke and “greatest achievement” – the Baby Box.

That box seems to exemplify everything that has been wrong with the nationalist administrations and their leaders over the years. All show and a fanfare of announcements and press calls and no real lasting value whatsoever.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Promises, promises

Nothing changes, that is the problem. The SNP have launched their conference with yet another excuse for its bad election performance.

It is that Scots voted tactically for Labour ostensibly to give the Tories a bad night, not to punish the SNP. This is pure fantasy. The SNP is on the slide and it knows it but does not want to admit it. Given this scenario, then, nothing will change from the SNP and it is “steady as you go” until the party hits the 2026 iceberg.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Salute Scotland

This weekend the SNP conference takes place in Edinburgh. What’s the point? There is little purpose in voting for a Party who’s raison d’etre was built around a promise of an independence which could never, ever, happen. Otherwise perfectly sane people allowed their hearts to rule their heads and voted SNP. The party loyalists will chunter away about what might have been. And John Swinney will continue to issue assurances about something even he doesn’t believe can ever happen.

As this evening at the conference looms, SNP or not, we should all raise our glasses to Scotland and – regardless of our political beliefs, say “Slàinte Mhath”. After all, we are all Scots.

Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent

Doing well

I always enjoy Joyce McMillan's Friday articles (Scottish Perspective, 30 August), even when I find myself in disagreement with them. Far from simply carrying on with Tory policies, I would suggest that Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Government he leads have achieved much in the short period since the General Election on 4 July.

He has prioritised the Union by visiting Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, making key contacts with their leaders. At the latest count, I think he has been in Scotland five times. Only this past week he has taken the positive step towards resetting our broken connection with Europe by visiting Germany and France.

As a pensioner, I regret the proposed universal cancelling of the Winter Fuel Payment, but agree it should be targeted only at those who need it, which would exclude myself. There are thousands of young families suffering fuel poverty far more acutely than many pensioners.

As far as mimicking Tory policies, rather, every effort is being made to dig us out of the deep black hole inherited from the disastrous policies of the previous government and I, for one, am quite happy to pay extra tax to get us out of it.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Brexit bonus

It is a disgrace British expats living in the EU, or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are guaranteed the Winter Fuel Allowance. Approximately 35,000 retirees on the Continent are in line for the £300 handout even if they exceed the new wealth threshold set by Rachel Reeves.

James Watson, Dunbar, East Lothian

Misguided tribute

Do people who release lighter-than-air balloons ever consider where they end up (“Balloons and bubbles for Southport victims' funeral”, 24 August)? Do they think they go to Heaven?

In fact, after bursting they fall to ground level, polluting the environment as a danger to wildlife both on land and at sea. Such releases should be banned and those responsible charged.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

Pricey experiment

Alistair Carmichael’s article “The £1bn bill to stop turbines turning is scandalous waste,”(Perspective, 30 August) raises the issue of constraint payments to energy companies. The pricing of energy has become very complex and these prices are dominated by the price of gas, which the UK government linked to the price of all generating sources. The constraint payments are a result of wind generation being intermittent and generating power which cannot be taken by the grid.

The British Energy Security Strategy launched in 2022 placed great emphasis on the potential for wind, solar and nuclear power to reduce Britain’s reliance on gas imports and help to protect consumers from high prices as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It will take some years to bring to fruition but will only be achieved with a significant increase in nuclear generating capacity. Communities that are expected to host renewable schemes will only benefit if the price of electricity is reduced by 30 per cent, which can be achieved if GB Energy takes the electricity section of the National Grid Company into public ownership and invests in the electricity supply and distribution industry using government borrowing rates.

The time has come for politicians to accept that privatisation of the electricity industry in 1990 has been a very expensive experiment.

Charles Scott, Edinburgh

World leading?

Paul Wilson says “Calls for climate policy debate will only grow as economic reality bites even harder" (Perspective, 29 August). Correct. He says, “Things can only get worse if we pursue sprint to net zero”.

How true, since our politicians have been deceived by the green brigade and those in the renewables industry. What politicians should be saying is that renewable electricity is mega-expensive as well as unreliable and that we need reliable gas and nuclear to keep the lights on. Forty per cent of the world's electricity is generated by coal producing cheap electricity to drive countries’ economies.

The frequent promises by politicians and the wind industry of cheap, reliable, renewable electricity from the 11,000 turbines scarring Scotland's landscapes was just a green smokescreen full of hot air. Windfarm operators in Scotland (mostly foreign) have been paid over £205 million so far this year to turn off their turbines and have to date received £1 billion of constraint payments which significantly increased UK electricity bills. Constraint payments are made when the grid is unable to cope with the extra electricity on a windy day, and who wants electricity in the middle of the night?

This constraint payment farce will continue until a reliable transmission structure is put into place to supply England. Why did the Scottish Government not instruct councils to freeze wind farm planning applications until a reliable transmission structure was in place?

Simple, the SNP wanted to boast that “Scotland leads the world in renewables”.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Peer grouping

After a gap of over seven weeks Keir Starmer has filled the last post in the UK government, by appointing Catherine Smith KC as Advocate General for Scotland. Since this post was established in 1999 there have been other short periods, notably in 2006, 2015 and 2020, when no-one filled it. This was because Labour and the Conservatives had no suitable MPs and had to make Neil Davidson, Richard Keen and Keith Stewart life peers.

The latter two held their posts for short periods while neither members of the House of Commons nor House of Lords. Catherine Smith KC may be in the same position while she waits to be “ennobled”. Could Keir Starmer not find capable Labour MPs to be Advocate General – or indeed Attorney General for England and Wales, and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, where both posts are held by the unelected new Lord Hermer?

There is no need for the Advocate General to be unelected. Lynda Clark was the Labour MP for Edinburgh Pentlands when she was appointed the first Advocate General, and served in both roles for just under six years. Catherine Smith KC should have stood for election as an MP.

E Campbell, Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire

Knight fail

The latest rumour from Labour is that vehicle fuel duty will rise in the October budget.

Whatever happened to the promise from Knight of the Realm Keir Starmer that there will be “no tax rises for working people”? Millions of ordinary working folk will suffer tax rises if the rumour mill is true, true that is, unlike Starmer's broken promise. Perhaps he should be reminded that Knights are expected to be chivalrous and truthful while acting honourably with a sense of justice.

Stan Hogarth, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire

Too tough on crime

Keir Starmer is complaining that he had to check prisoner numbers every day following the recent riots. Why? Wouldn’t it have been far more useful to sentence the guilty to two or three hundred hours of unpaid work then use that time to clear up the mess they created? That way the taxpayer wouldn’t have had to pay for the inmates’ accommodation, food and leisure activities, or pay benefits to ex-cons who cannot now find employment.

Of course, that wouldn’t project an image of a tough Prime Minister and that’s what it was all about.

Bruce Proctor, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

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