Scotland Matters Letters

NICOLA Sturgeon bought a Holyrood majority by giving a scrap of power to the Greens. Patrick Harvie is now exploiting that to the full by holding guns at the heads of Scottish householders. Regardless of professional advice, totally uninterested in the opinions of people, eg Willie Haughey, who unlike Harvie know what they’re talking about, and oblivious to the misery his dictatorial green energy plans will inflict upon Scotland he is allowed to charge ahead unchallenged by the SNP leadership. Has anyone in the Scottish `Government’ given a thought to the thousands of people who will go into deep debt to install air-source heat pumps? And all to satisfy the ego of one insignificant little man. Get him reined in before it’s too late. Ian Balloch, Grangemouth, Stirlingshire.

THE First Minister’s first trip to London cost struggling Scots taxpayers plenty. Recently revealed administration transparency documents tell us that, for example, he stayed in a £700 a night hotel. No cost of living crisis for Mr Yousaf or his entourage apparently. We must wonder if he is trying to match Angus Robertson. Mr Yousaf follows pretty much in the footsteps of the two previous nationalist first ministers. All of them suffer from delusions of grandeur and an overload of entitlement and lack of any probity or self-awareness whatsoever. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.

SHOULD anyone wish to understand why politics and politicians are held in such low regard, then look no further than Margaret Ferrier, now ex-SNP MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton. Her obstinate refusal to resign and stand down as an MP following her conviction in court and a 30-day Parliamentary suspension for breaking Covid rules simply demonstrate in the clearest way possible how many of our political representatives do not follow the principles of honesty and integrity in discharging their representative duties. These representatives need to reflect on what it means when they are referred to as “Honourable Members” in Parliament. It will be a long road back before trust in politicians is restored. Richard Allison, Edinburgh.

It is reported that the Prime Minister has given the green light for 100 licences to be granted in September to companies that want to press ahead with further oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. No doubt this will be immediately opposed by both the SNP and the Green Party — but such matters are not devolved to the Scottish Parliament. In the longer term, without question, the Government’s target of hitting net-zero emissions by 2050 should be met, but under the current security risks created by the crisis caused by the Russian/Ukrainian war it would indeed be sheer folly to impose a ban on new oil and gas licences. The SNP has certainly changed its tune over the years. I am sure that most of us can remember when their war cry was: “It’s Scotland’s oil”, but of course, these days they have little option but to pay heed to their “bed companions” —the unelected Greens — without whom they would certainly lack a majority at Holyrood. There is no doubt at all that the time will come for commitment to net-zero emissions, but it must not be imposed to the detriment of the UK economy which, because of the current worldwide crisis caused by the effects of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, is under threat. Of course, it has to be said that the SNP is always on the lookout for ways and means of undermining the UK Establishment. Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife.

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