Readers' Letters: Did Robison understand implications of Scottish Budget?

Reading and listening to opinion on the Scottish Budget in the media it is hard to find any praise for the consequences of the changes announced, which is worrying for the future. Even the SNP’s own leadership contender has concerns!

Did Finance Secretary Shona Robison understand the implications of the Scottish Budget, wonders reader (Picture: Peter Summers/Getty Images)

I have doubts that Finance Secretary Shona Robison understood the potential implications of her changes on the country and the many people, agencies and businesses that have to live with them.

Still, at least our pretend embassies will flourish, given that they seemed to be the only benefactors.

Ken Currie, Edinburgh

Health check

It's already challenging to attract new senior medics to our NHS. As a direct result of the SNP's Scottish Budget our new consultants and GPs would pay approximately £4,000 more income tax than their peers elsewhere in the UK. We may all suffer when they choose to work elsewhere.

Duncan Foster, Perth

Class war crusade

Grangemouth is closing down, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Private landlords are selling up and leaving the rental market, further aggravating the affordable housing shortage. These are just two examples of how the anti-business environment created by the Continuity SNP/Greens is impacting our struggling economy.

In this week’s Budget, the collision of the Scottish Government’s financial illiteracy with the real world has become horribly apparent for all to see. With even higher top-rate taxes, good luck filling those 400 vacant NHS consultant posts!

Why would higher earners remain or settle here when nearly half their wages are taken from them to be squandered? They’re not a captive dairy herd willing to be milked dry; many will escape this class war crusade to go elsewhere.

In defence of such legalised daylight robbery, all that deluded separatist correspondents can offer is the repeated mantra of baby boxes, free university tuition (for a very few) and unsustainable welfare expenditure, along with endless nonsense about a “circular economy” and employing a growing army of civil servants to perform pointless, costly independence rituals.

Living in Scotland since 2007 has been like travelling in a bus hijacked by fanatics, heading towards a cliff edge (at an environmentally friendly 20mph, of course). Are we now about to fall off?

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

Export route

I refer to the letter in The Scotsman from Bob MacDougall titled “Delays SNP’s fault” (22 December). I would like to remind Mr MacDougall that the previous Scottish Government run by Labour opted to prioritise the Edinburgh Trams project ahead of dualling the A9 so to blame one administration for the risk to life is not correct.

Prior to devolution the A9 has been an important main road linking the Highlands to the Central Belt and it is along that road that much of Scotland’s biggest exports have been moved. Given the amount of revenue generated by whisky exports from The Highland and Speyside regions over a long period of time I wonder why this road was not made into a dual carriageway in the Seventies, when North Sea Oil revenue was used in abundance to improve infrastructure elsewhere.

Lawrence Maclean, Inverness

Road to ruin?

John Swinney MSP made a contribution to the debate following Cabinet Secretary Mairi McAllan’s statement to parliament on 20 December in which she announced a delivery plan to complete the dualling of the A9 between Inverness and Perth.

Mr Swinney commented that this “builds on the successful completion” of six major capital projects. Construction of four of these (Airdrie Bathgate rail link, M74 Completion, Borders Railway and the Queensferry Crossing) commenced in the period between June 2007 and September 2011. Construction of the other two (M8 Completion and Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route) commenced in early 2015.

It is notable that, putting ferries aside, no major capital project has started since then, highlighting the weakness of the Sturgeon administration when it comes to delivery.

Papers recently released to Holyrood’s Citizen’s Participation and Public Petitions Committee confirm that there was no delivery plan for upgrading the A9. Since 2015 successive transport ministers, including Humza Yousaf, have failed to get to grips with developing a meaningful approach to procurement and funding of the programme. It was this failure that led to the years of delay rather than technical issues, the Covid pandemic, the Ukraine war and all the other excuses that have been put forward.

After ten months of deliberation, the plan that Ms McAllan has published appears, at last, to have some substance behind it. However, that is no reason to celebrate. This plan should have been in place eight years ago. The plan is also qualified in that it is “subject to ongoing due diligence and further decision making in late 2025”. This may well turn into another reason for delay.

People in the Highlands are rightly sceptical about this government delivering to this plan and the upgrade of 83 miles of road finally being completed 28 years after it was first announced.

George Rennie, Inverness

Lights of life

In the 16th century, German theologian Martin Luther, walking past a forest one night, saw the bright stars twinkling through the branches of the trees. He was so in awe of this beauty, he placed a fir tree in his home and attached candles, to recreate the sight for his family. For those who have lost family this year, I pray they find peace during Christmas.

Sean Ashley, Aberdeen

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