The largesse of the SNP/Green cabal in giving free bus travel to all groups she mentions, free University education, free eye tests and free prescriptions are not means tested – therefore hundreds of millions of pounds are wasted on the affluent and those who can and should be paying their way. This profligacy is one of the many reasons we are in the state we are in. Her words “the thought of our paltry powers being subsumed by the UK” are as incredulous as they are incorrect. Scotland is the most powerfully devolved nation in the world. The fact of the matter is, we are governed by a group of the most incompetent people ever seen on the political stage. Everything that this group touches melts into disarray quicker than a Mars Bar in a microwave.

Ms Buchan-Hepburn derides Robert I G Scott, suggesting he must be very rich; this is somewhat assumptive and suggests she is from a poor background and is struggling. I am afraid she lets the cat out of the bag by stating she is a retired doctor. Independence is for those with the mortgage paid off, the healthy pension rolling in and all the offspring having fledged the nest – the archetypal middle classes, who have a dream of a land of milk and honey and the knowledge that Utopia has been reached before they leave this mortal coil.

The truth is somewhat harder to bear, as we look at the endless fiascos the SNP/Greens have led us into.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament with government colleagues (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

It is thanks to the unwavering dedication of journalists like The Scotsman's Conor Matchett that these self-aggrandising politicians are being held to account for what on many levels must be close to subversion of the truth. It is a blessing that The Scotsman has these talented and fearless journalists, being able and willing to expose this regime for what it patently is, talentless, directionless on economics and only interested in the one goal at the expense of all else

David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Paying bagpiper

My, how blessed we Scots are to have all the freebies and handouts that Elizabeth Buchan-Hepburn lists in her letter; largesse those in England can only dream of. There is even enough left over for non-devolved issues such as pretendy wee embassies abroad and foreign aid, grandstanding FM visits to the USA and £20 million for an Indyref2 that isn’t even going to happen. Easy to splash the cash when allocated spending per head is 30 per cent higher than south of the Border, but given that nowt is free, who pays the (bag)piper?

Andrew Kemp, Rosyth, Fife

Feet of clay

James Watson has missed the point regarding the media’s response to the Downing Street parties (Letters, 8 June).

The anger, shared by the British people, was a response to the blatant hypocrisy displayed by those MPs who took part in the celebration. The Metropolitan Police decided that there were at least eight illegal gatherings throughout the year. The government had just placed stringent restrictions on the British public’s freedom to gather together with friends at social events, yet did not think that those rules applied to them. How can the MPs who attended the party expect to be respected, and viewed as staunch upholders of probity and integrity?

If our parents had punished us for smoking when they had been heavy smokers for decades, we would have decried their hypocrisy – and rightly so. This is why the media responded so strongly to the illegal gatherings at Downing Street. We expect our leaders to lead by example, even though we know from experience that they may have feet of clay.

Carolyn Taylor, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

Minority rules

It is interesting, in our multicultural country (United Kingdom), that our viewing habits can be dictated by one minority faction of our community. CineWorld has cancelled all showings of the film The Lady of Heaven as a consequence of a group of protesters.Where does the status of the British Board of Film Classification, who censor UK films, stand in this standoff? They have cleared the film for viewing. If people object to a film then they do not need to see it, they certainly should not deny the majority of the population an opportunity to make their own decision. This is yet another example of the minority dictating to the majority!

Graham Smith, Edinburgh

Brought to book

I see Nicola Sturgeon will be appearing at this year's Edinburgh Book Festival. Many of us will remember her embarrassment at being a member of a “nationalist” party at another book festival and how she wished her party could change its name.

Why does she want to change the name? Because nationalism is a dirty word. Look at the number of writers to the Scotsman who try to paint unionists as nationalists in the vain hope that some of that dirt sticks to them.

Now, Nicola Sturgeon will be quizzing Brian Cox, a noted supporter of independence. Perhaps I could suggest a question for Ms Sturgeon to ask Mr Cox? For example, is it compulsory for luvvies like him who support breaking up the UK to live overseas? As he and Alan Cumming both live in the USA and another Scottish nationalist, Sir Sean Connery, did so too.

Clearly, the high taxes the SNP favour are best avoided overseas. Just try to tell us Scots that we need to put up with it and a potential future of penury so that they can burnish their Scottish credentials. I can see a few rotten tomatoes being thrown!

Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh

Nuance needed

I see that Kenny MacAskill (Perspective, 9 June) is on about the old British Empire again. He paints it in lurid colours, thinking it bad, although others take a more nuanced view. One thing he needs to bear in mind, as historians like Tom Devine have pointed out, is that we Scots played a significant part in it.

William Ballantine, Bo'ness, West Lothian

The empire was robbery and exploitation, which should be admitted not continuall...

Shards of sense

There seems to be a growing belief that no foreign law court is ever justified in finding a “Brit” guilty of any crime whatsoever, irrespective of that country's laws and justice system. A demand that the British government take action immediately to try to overturn a foreign legal judgement now seems automatic.

The law in other countries may not suit what looks increasingly like the rising arrogance of the British nationals and their families, who are involved, but this dismissive attitude to other countries' laws, whether we agree with them or not, will not be doing us any favours. If there can be shown to be a proven injustice (in their terms, not ours) in the legal judgement, then protest by all means.

Otherwise, accept the legal system of any other country, especially if you are working in an area (eg archaeology) which is known to be highly sensitive. In other words, don't pocket pottery shards ever, despite what the seemingly authoritative tour guide says. Use some common sense.

Steve Hayes, Leven, Fife

Not tracking

Last time I looked it took less than five hours to travel from Edinburgh to London by train. Do we need to spend £3 billion to reduce this by 30 minutes?

John Cutland, Kirkcaldy, Fife

Time to walk

The SNP are oft quoted as saying Scotland has got a government that we never voted for in reference to Westminster. It appears now that we have a homegrown government at Holyrood about which many Scots are thinking "I wish I had never voted for them" too.

For a start, the alliance between the SNP and Greens would not have been universally popular with both sets of supporters. Now the absolute disasters in a wide range of devolved isues that are now unfolding almost daily ought to be changing the minds of all but the most committed.

Add to this, too, the complete mess Nicola Sturgeon has made of her on/off/on promise of an independence referendum that almost everyone knows will not happen in 2023 and you have a perfect storm. All this before the summer of discontent has really started.

It is not just Scottish football fans who were urged to "walk", some Scottish government ministers ought to be joining them.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Robot rescue?

Blinkered politicians have been, and are, determined to force everyone back onto public transport without considering the power being placed in the hands of the unions who then effectively run the show.

It is such a huge mistake pouring money into these countrywide operations, haven't they heard the old warning of too many eggs in one basket? As soon as an organised workforce becomes large enough to disrupt others and the economy, they wield the power for their own ends. Nevertheless, we are where we are, and robotics for the rail network can't come soon enough.

Stop HS2 now, use the remaining allocated funds and call Elon Musk and his team to convert the network to self-drive trains and automate the signalling and points. Perhaps the threat would be enough to dampen the Trotskyists for the time being.

Stan Hogarth, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire

Roll up?

There is a noticeable absence of an orderly queue of would-be tenants forming up in Downing Street. Could it have anything to do with the present incumbent's choice of wallpaper?

Patricia Macinnes, Milngavie, Glasgow

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Scotsman Letters: Government to blame for £3.5bn black hole

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