Readers' letters: Elon Musk and Donald Trump alliance will not last

It would seem Elon Musk has some time on his hands and has used it to interfere in UK issues he knows nothing about, other than what the obsessed and desperate Nigel Farage has whispered in his ear.

The media overreaction to this almost laughable intervention has suggested it is more important than it actually is.

As Mr Musk is about to join the new Trump administration in a country which, I assume, has no social problems of its own, my guess is the clash of two gargantuan egos, neither used to being told what to do, will result in a very short-lived political marriage of convenience. Elon Musk’s ill-informed and unwanted opinions on UK issues will quickly fade into obscurity given the inevitable nuclear fallout from this clash of far right titans.

US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in November last year (Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

D Mitchell, Edinburgh

Trump card

It never ceases to amaze me how much hot air is expended over the forthcoming election of Donald Trump in these letter pages.

One would think that with the fiscally incompetent governments in both Westminster and Holyrood, we could focus a bit more on the daily trashing of our own lives than procrastinate on what-ifs in the USA,

This is nicely summed up in the letter from Marjorie Ellis Thompson (Scotsman, 10 January). Two comments really stand out.

She states she moved here because of “its fairer society and the sophistication and intelligence of political debate”. I am fairly sure, looking at FMQs or PMQs one will soon deduce a total lack of “sophistication” or “fairness” as both houses are nothing but a ramshackle excuse of debate – sadly because the levels of literacy and numeracy amongst these career politicians is appalling.

Secondly, she states: “Those bandying about inflammatory phrases and nurturing a culture of grievance are playing with fire”. Has she deleted from memory the disgusting comments from Patrick Harvie, delivered in front of the King at Holyrood, Humza Yousaf braying about Elon Musk, the abhorrent comments by Nicola Sturgeon when defending the GRC – the list goes on.

As we move forward in 2025, I’ll stick my neck out – I believe the world will be a safer place from 20 January for the next four years, though I don’t think anyone will congratulate me if I’m correct.

David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Climate crisis real

Your correspondent Otto Inglis (Letters, 10 January) bemoans the state of our education system and suggests we focus on core subjects, including science. When he talks about “net zero hysteria”, however, I would respectfully suggest he examine his own scientific education.

Mr Inglis rightly states that, without carbon dioxide, there would be no life on earth; this is taught as part of the secondary school science curriculum.

While the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere remains stable, everything is fine. When, however, society emits vast amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, the planet warms up. This has been scientific truth for over a century. The planetary warming adds energy to the climate, producing extremes of weather including storms, wildfires, flooding, droughts and so on.

While we have not yet experienced wildfires like Los Angeles, the cities of London and Manchester have seen wildfires on their fringes in recent years. Nowadays we are regularly subjected to warnings of extreme weather and “named” storms from the Met Office.

The policy of “net zero” is simply a move to stop emitting excess carbon, allowing our climate to return to a stable state. The climate crisis is real and we must treat it seriously. Our response should never be branded “hysteria”.

Jeff Rogers, Banchory, Aberdeenshire

Balance of nature

We’re just two weeks into 2025 and the “world’s wealthiest one per cent have already burned through their share of the annual global carbon budget this year” (Scotsman,10 January).

Meanwhile, far too prematurely, bumblebees, confused by unnaturally mild weather, have already begun their nesting process several months early (Scotsman, 10 January). That this mild weather was immediately followed by the current cold snap, simply further endangers the bee population.

Surely, the bumblebees’ plight and the obscene greed of the world’s wealthiest are connected. While the poor bees impatiently await the early arrival of snowdrops and crocuses, the world’s wealthiest sadly remain far from being an endangered species, thus upsetting the fragile balance of nature, to the peril of us all.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Don’t count on it

Labour lacks numeracy skills, as we know from past experience. On radio yesterday, one of them was saying that interest on our national debt was one hundred million a year. Would that it were so. It is actually one hundred thousand million a year. All MPs and their helpers should have to pass a basic numeracy exam.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross

Who’s for us?

If you want to know if your MSP is interested in your problems and doing the best he or she can for you, find out which way they voted on the Holyrood Budget. If your MSP voted against it or abstained, you will know that he or she has no interest in you whatsoever.

This SNP budget will allow our Holyrood government to make up for Starmer’s desire to leave Scottish pensioners cold and hungry. This budget will allow the SNP to find money for families with more than two children so their parents can keep them fed and warm.

If the MSP you voted for is more interested in doing what he is told by his party leaders than taking care of you, he or she is not worth voting for. Find someone who is committed to making life for Scots better, happier and richer.

Elizabeth Scott, Edinburgh

Polls apart

John Swinney, presumably buoyed by a couple of opinion polls suggesting an uptick in Scexit support, proclaims that he's going to focus the SNP 2026 Holyrood election campaign on independence.

Swinney, however, will, like most of us, understand that opinion polls are not about one-offs but trends – and the absolutely consistent trend over the last decade demonstrates clear opposition to UK break-up. Plus, worryingly for Swinney, support for the SNP hasn’t much increased; rather, enthusiasm for Labour has dipped.

UK prime ministers – and Margaret Thatcher is a prime example with the Falklands war – have sometimes sought at elections to distract voters away from ‘humdrum’ day-to-day domestic problems to loftier matters such as foreign affairs. Or, in Swinney’s case, the SNP’s favoured obsession: the constitution. Surely, there can't be a voter left in Scotland incapable of appreciating, despite the efforts of front-line professionals, the perilous state of our public services after 18 years of SNP domination of Scottish politics. Why would Swinney want us to vote with that front of mind?

By his intention to focus on pie-in-the-sky nationalist dogma, I’d suggest Swinney not only insults the intelligence of the Scottish electorate but also shows himself incapable of tackling what really matters in Scotland today.

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Scottish Borders

Lack of ambition

The Scotsman has a long tradition in my lifetime of promoting Scotland’s culture yet opposing Scotland’s independence. This editorial stance makes me feel conflicted when Scotland’s national paper is against Scotland becoming a country of the UN, but would never allow the pipes to “fall silent” (Leader, 9 January). Is this the height of Scotland's ambition?

Dr Neil D McKay, address supplied

Holyrood jeapordy

Scotland remains on the horns of a dilemma. It either accepts the misguided doctrines of the SNP, or it returns to the broader politics of Labour or the Tories.

The Nationalists have had adequate time to make a success of governing and have failed miserably. The future of the Parliament would appear to be in jeopardy; it either succeeds in its original form as a regional government enforcing the terms set out in the Scotland Acts, or is dissolved forthwith.

One would hope that the Regional Parliament would continue to function within the agreed terms, but if that proves to be unacceptable to the extremists then the inevitable solution is closure.

Robert IG Scott, Ceres, Fife

Levy irony

Many readers will be aware from recent announcements that the new Visitor Levy is expected to raise £50 million annually for the City of Edinburgh Council. Additionally, some will know that most accommodation providers will need to pay VAT on the amounts collected from their visitors under this levy.

However, I wonder how many realise that the VAT on these levy payments will go directly to HMRC. This means that for every £50m generated for the council, up to £10m will be transferred to HMRC. Essentially, the SNP government has introduced a visitor tax that will result in up to £10m per year being diverted from Edinburgh to London.

I half expect the SNP to then complain about money being sent to London from the very tax they themselves have legislated to introduce.

Roddy MacLeod, Edinburgh

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