In Scotland, everyone who earns more than the minimum wage a year pays more tax than they would under the prevailing conditions in the rest of the UK. So why are services in Scotland being mercilessly squeezed? Where is the money going? Some of it is spent on the extra ministers Humza Yousaf has hired, and their offices and paraphernalia, their special advisers, and their travel. All at a time when, we are told, food bank use in Scotland has increased exponentially. We know that Nicola Sturgeon’s regime threw money at new schemes that did not come to fruition and at old ones that continued to limp along under their well-paid chief executives. Then there is the raft of client organisations, including those in the arts and the third sector, that receive money to keep them onside with government initiatives, which means supporting secession. But that still leaves the question: where does all the money go? Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.