Scotland Matters Letters

So the SNP in the Commons is considering a policy of “disengagement” from day-to-day parliamentary activities, following its dispute with the speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. You could argue that, like their fellow nationalists in Northern Ireland, they shouldn’t take part at Westminster anyway, since the SNP’s overarching aim is to break up the UK. Plus, to the majority of Scots, not having to witness toe-curling performances of SNP MPs in the Commons on a regular basis would be an added bonus. Win-win all round. Martin Redfern.

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WE learn of a pilot scheme in the north of Scotland, whereby police officers cherry-picked which crime they deemed was worthy of further investigation. And now this scheme, which was proved to be a great success, is going to be rolled out throughout Scotland. Let’s get to the real reason why this ill-judged scheme was even thought of by the police hierarchy: all the cutbacks in police funding, and the ill-thought idea that Police Scotland would work. Police Scotland was the brainchild of the SNP but what was thought to be a cost-cutting exercise at the time has failed. Police officers are leaving in their droves and not being replaced. What officers there are left are chasing their tails to deal with crime; by thinking up this scheme this gives the illusion that all is well in our police force, which is untrue – and, to taxpayers, unacceptable. This is the start of the demise of our once-proud police force that was hailed throughout the world. Policing is necessary to maintain law and order; it is not a service that abdicates its duties due to lack of personnel and funding. Let’s see again a visible force properly funded and not another failing due to the SNP, one to be added to the failing NHS, the failing of our schools, the ferry fiasco, and our ‘A’-class roads destroyed by potholes and patching. The SNP always blame the UK government for lack of funding and about having to go cap in hand to get extra money. What I don’t understand is how can we survive under the SNP if we were to be independent. Neil Stewart, Balfron.

I refer to your front-page article, ‘SNP says Tory MP should be dropped after smear’ (March 11). The newspaper article at the centre of this storm is not “Islamophobic”, it is factual. There was no extra money, it had to be “borrowed” from elsewhere and indeed, UNICEF was the preferred recipient, not UNWRA. Not only that, but the sums considered were £100,000 to £200,000 – yet £250,000 was actually given. The fact that Mr Yousaf’s parents-in-law were “released” the day after the donation was announced may be co-incidental but the timing is not ideal from Mr Yousaf’s point of view. He has been asked serious questions. If the SNP have learned from history it will have a proper paper trail and detailed documents to back Mr Yousaf up. The solution is simple: show them. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

How reassuring it is to have Angus Robertson MSP in charge of Scotland’s “external affairs” – even if foreign policy is a reserved issue. Mr Robertson tells us not only that having a secessionist Scotland expel nuclear weapons from its territory would be no obstacle to Scotland joining Nato but also that it “would not embolden Putin”. How lucky we are to have someone with such insight into the minds of both Nato leaders and Vladimir Putin making policy for us. This is the message from the SNP’s latest taxpayer-funded propaganda paper in a series that, in SNP eyes, makes the case for separatism. In reality, this paper, like its predecessors – particularly the risible effort allegedly making the economic case – is a catalogue of wishful thinking based on best-case scenarios unsupported by evidence. Thus Scotland “would have a strong voice internationally” and “would be able to negotiate for ourselves and deliver on our own priorities”. As usual, it is all about burnishing Scotland’s image on the assumption that admiring foreigners will bend to its will Mr Robertson seems unaware of two things. Yes, there are Nato members who do not have and do not host nuclear weapons. But these same members have not at any time had nuclear weapons on their territory that they have chosen to relinquish. Second, Nato, and especially its General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has spoken very soberly and even sternly of the need for Nato members to increase their defence spending, to prepare for any future Russian aggression. Mr Robertson confirmed that Scotland would not have its own submarines but would concentrate on maritime patrol aircraft. Beyond that, it is not dear what Scotland would have to offer Nato. On April 29 2022, the SNP’s defence spokesman, Stewart McDonald MP, explained that Scotland should develop a “capability in military medicine that we can readily offer partners in time of need; conjuring up images of uniformed personnel carrying first aid boxes around a battlefield. At least the SNP is consistent, getting civil servants once more to labour long and hard to produce yet another vanity exercise in separatist pie-in-the-sky aspiration. Jill Stephenson, Glen Lockhart Valley.

Like many other Scots I have received my notice of tax codes. It is well worth scrutinising the difference in tax bands between Scotland and England. In Scotland, the enhanced rate of 42 per cent is paid on taxable income over £31,093. However, in England, the enhanced rate of 40 per cent is paid on taxable income over £37,700. What is worse is that those paying the enhanced rate lose £500 of the £1,000 tax-free allowance on any interest earned on capital. By any standards, this is a rip-off. When the British Government froze excise duty on alcohol this was met with great acclaim as it protected one of Scotland’s major industries. What did the Scottish Government do? It increased the minimum pricing of alcohol which will decimate particularly the hospitality industry which is already on its knees. The election cannot come too soon so that this money-wasting inept Scottish Government can be shown the door. John L Rimmer, Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

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