Readers' Letters: First Minister unlikely to have a happy new year

Will Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf have a happy new year?

Will Humza Yousaf be able to walk into 2024 with a smile on his face? (Picture: Ken Jack/Getty Images)

Two ferries yet to see service, by all accounts the worst Scottish Budget ever, an NHS near collapse, educational rankings falling and all the rest of his party's failings.

Mr Yousaf's “insurance policy” of Green support is also now severely challenged by the Greens insisting that the Gender Recognition Reform Bill was a “red line” but suddenly isn't. Political red lines abandoned are a sure sign of weakness.

Mr Yousaf continuing to accommodate the Greens is another sure sign of weakness and trying to shout down and insult opposition leaders at First Minister's questions is also a sure sign of weakness.

Mr Yousaf is very unlikely to have a happy new year.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

NHS money pit?

As a new year dawns, it seems that some of the same old problems will haunt the Scottish NHS well into 2024 and beyond. Both the health unions and the BMA in Scotland warn of the dire circumstances afflicting the NHS, with staff burnout and escalating waiting times for treatment.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson may well have conceded that things are not up to standard, which seems to be an understatement. Yet the tiresome Scottish Government “spokesperson” has trotted out the same old cliche that staff funding for the NHS is at record levels.

So why is it not making a difference? Surely throwing more and more money at an enterprise does not guarantee success but will only bring about improvement if it's used wisely and constructively. The SNP/Greens government seems unable to grasp this point.

Bob MacDougall, Kippen, Stirlingshire

Unfair charges

ScotRail will abolish free charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) at its stations from January 2024.

Why did they do this in the first place since it has cost taxpayers at least £700,000 a year since it started so the total cost could be well over £2 million?

Until recently local authorities in Scotland also supplied free electricity to EV owners. One council gave away £126,000 of council taxpayers' cash so what was the figure for 32 councils? £2m, £3m, more?

Why were rich EV owners subsidised by taxpayers, many of whom cannot afford a car, far less an electric one. These same councils are now pleading poverty and claim that they will have to make cuts unless they get more money from the Scottish Government.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Files scandal

Given all we know now, how could anyone be surprised to learn the SNP destroyed hundreds of official records and documents shortly after the court battle with Alex Salmond in 2019? It began, we are told, a day after the court case and by the end of that month a total of 1,058 files were destroyed.

Is it any wonder fresh questions are being asked about the SNP's policy around the storing of emails, texts and WhatsApp messages? Were this happening in any normal western democracy, anywhere in the free world, there would be outrage. In Scotland, at best we get a shrug of the shoulders and possibly another statement on pretend embassies or the situation in Gaza.

It is a time for this outrageous panto of justice and fairness and integrity to end and normal non-nationalist politics to resume.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

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