Scotland Matters Letters

RUTH Marr and Lorraine Alexander (Letters, November 21) say that Michael Matheson made a mistake and we all should put this saga to bed with a slap on the wrist. We certainly should not. This was an official laptop provided by the SNP for use of government business, not for watching football. The confidential information on the computer would appear to be open to the Matheson household. Both your correspondents miss that point, and as everything involving the SNP is brushed under the carpet, from the missing £600,000 to the truth about the ferry situation and the failure to submit WhatsApp messages to the Covid Inquiry, it is not surprising that they take this view. The SNP claims transparency, but to me it is far more murky than transparent. Neil Stewart, Balfron.

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IS the new SNP slogan going to be “the matter is closed?” Humza Yousaf seems increasingly to depend upon this method of delivering government. Be it energy claims or Michael Matheson’s iPad expenses it appears that any difficult areas are simply shut down. With more and more fanciful documents about independence being spewed out that path looks closed too. Surely the next move therefore is to shut down Holyrood and put devolution in the bin. That would very popular amongst most Scots as it would save a huge amount of taxpayers’ money that Holyrood appears to be less than careful with. As a bonus, we might even get back proper public services. Scotland could then reopen to a brighter future. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

If we didn’t already know it, we can now see how defective Holyrood is. It is bad enough that unelected Greens can become government ministers, that there are no checks/balances, and that, as both William McRae Allan and Victor Clements assert (Letters, 21 November), there is no accountability. As Mr Clements says, no-one seems to have vetted Michael Matheson’s extraordinary roaming expenses claim. Of relevance is the convention that Matheson’s fate is decided by the First Minister. It is theoretically possible that he could lose his cabinet job following a vote of no confidence, but Nicola Sturgeon solved that by bringing the unelected Greens into coalition with the SNP. There might conceivably be a few SNP rebels but probably not enough. Mr Yousaf’s own future is entirely in his own hands. It is up to him alone whether he refers himself to the parliament’s watchdog for an alleged breach of the ministerial code, over his false claim about Scotland having the “majority of the renewables and natural resources” in the UK. The fundamental problem, however, is lack of accountability. The Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, does sterling work, but there is no evidence of ministers feeling obliged to take heed of what he says, for example about the need for transparency in government. As Mr McRae Allan says: “There should be an independent inquiry…into the whole system of accountability at Holyrood.” Or else close it down. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

THE SNP have produced yet another document saying how easy it will be for Scotland to re-join the EU – which is in complete contrast with what the commissioners are saying. The SNP paper makes no reference whatsoever that it is now a pre-requirement of any country applying to join the EU that they adopt the Euro as a currency It could also take up to 10 years for Scotland to join the EU as Scotland’s debt level would be so high they would present as a liability in accepting Scotland as a full member. Dennis Grattan, Aberdeen.

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