Scotland Matters Letters

When the uber-loyal education secretary in the FM’s administration advises those in the party with doubts about the gender fiasco basically to go if they are ‘uncomfortable’ a critical point has been reached in the continuing fall of the SNP. The discontent rumbles on, not helped by the latest opinion poll indicating dramatic falls in numbers supporting the SNP’s contentious gender policy as well as voting intentions and the FM’s own, previously sacrosanct popularity. There is a distinct feel of failure and disappointment and even anger at the choices made recently by the SNP leadership. In 1942, Winston Churchill said: `Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’ For the sake of Scotland, let us hope history is repeating itself. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.

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It seems that the wheels are coming off the SNP/Green bus all at the same time. Crises over ferries, various strikes, the NHS and even the bottle return scheme are hitting home. The gender reforms have gone spectacularly wrong too. Not unexpectedly, the SNP/Green government’s ratings have slumped in the polls. Nicola Sturgeon’s anchor in bad weather has always been her reliance on poll leads. No more. Now looming on the near horizon is her “de-facto” referendum conference. Is there any point in this now? The gender reforms have destroyed her party and once in freefall, another layer of in-fighting will not help. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

Herbert Petrie (Letters, February 1) responds to my letter in which I asked why, in seeking so-called independence to make its own laws, Scotland would then apply to join the EU and have to conform to its rules? He says that “most people can see the difference” and then goes on to extol the advantages of free movement and trade with Europe, neglecting to mention that we would lose those same benefits with our biggest trading partner – the UK. He believes that we “don’t have a voice in Westminster” with 59 out of 650 MPs (9%) and would have a bigger voice in the EU whose member countries with a similar population to Scotland have around 14 MEPs out of more than 700 (only 2%). Maybe that tiny representation in the EU is what prompted him to write that “within the EU we would have a veto’: I can just picture a petulant Nicola Sturgeon stamping her feet and saying “if Scotland can’t get what it wants, none of youse will get your laws passed’: Coincidentally, in the same edition the SNP’s Steven Flynn MP, commenting on the fishing industry’s disappointment three years on from Brexit, says that it was based on “snake oil” promises, adding “it has cost billions, reduced trade, squeezed growth, hammered household incomes and provided none of the so-called benefits we were promised”: It is easy to imagine the same words being used three years after Scexit except that, unlike the Cameron government – who campaigned against Brexit – it will have been the SNP government who sold us the snake oil. Mr Petrie and the SNP paint a rosy picture of post-separation Scotland, but as we have seen with Brexit, and for countries joining the EU, it is not the leavers or the joiners who dictate the terms – and the outcomes are unpredictable. Mr Petrie ends his letter with the words “we won’t know until we are independent”. Too late. If Scotland’s voters want a UK Government that they voted for then they could try voting for a party that has a real prospect of achieving a majority in Westminster – instead of wasting it on the SNP. Mark Openshaw, Aberdeen.

I was amazed to read Neil Anderson’s diatribe about the absence of news presenters with regional accents on BBC national news programmes (Letters, 6 February). If one thing has been noticeable over the years it is the prominence of Scottish voices on BBC news programmes, not perhaps as newsreaders but certainly as presenters and correspondents. These have included James Naughtie’s long stint on The World at One, Gavin Esler and Kirsty Wark on Newsnight and Allan Little, Laura Bicker and Quentin Somerville as foreign correspondents. Adam Fleming is the BBCs Chief Political Correspondent. Nick Eardley and David Wallace Lock-hart bring their distinctive accents to the political correspondent’s team. Laura Kuenssberg has a prime and prestigious slot as successor to Andrew Marr on Sunday mornings. Sarah Smith also has a prestigious post as BBC North America correspondent The peerless Andrew Neil has his own political comment programme. No doubt I have omitted other relevant voices. By restricting his complaint to newsreaders, Mr Ander-son skews the question with a very narrow focus. In any case, each of the regions has its own separate bulletins with its own newsreaders with regional accents. To suggest Scottish voices are missing from BBC programmes demonstrates a certain deafness on MrAnder-son’s part. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

A recent report from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revealed that the tax on North Sea oil and gas companies has “backfired” after it emerged receipts were 25% lower than expected. It would appear that these figures from the OBR come amid warnings of the impact the tax would have on the sector – the warnings were given from prominent energy experts. There’s already a clear indication from Harbour Energy (the largest producer in the sector), that the energy profit levy (EPL) or windfall tax is taking funds away which would be used for offshore investment, and Harbour Energy are now facing up to cut jobs. Ryan Crighton, director of policy and marketing at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said the “plan to raise extra cash from oil companies was putting investment in greener energy at risk”. He also said that the “chancellor had ignored repeated warnings from some of the North Sea’s most experienced figures that a tax rate of 75% will force them to invest elsewhere”. There are 200,000 people engaged in the energy sector and any loss would have a dreadful effect on the Scottish economy. The chancellor needs to promptly rethink the whole EPL and reduce the burden on energy companies, for at present he is assisting the SNP/Green government to rid the North Sea of oil and gas extraction which would be harmful to the future of the Scottish economy. Do it soon. Ken Watmough, Aberdeen.

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