Readers' Letters: Get rid of soft-on-crime SNP government

This is one of the many, many examples that drive normal law-abiding citizens mad. The bus pass should be cancelled, not suspended for an undetermined period, not “maybe”, but cancelled never to be returned. Furthermore, the individual should be banned from travelling by bus for a very long time.

The SNP’s soft-justice system sees those found guilty get released very early, or even escaping jail when historically they might have been imprisoned. In many cases, because of massive cuts in policing, the criminals don’t even get caught.

Ah but we have more officers per thousand people than they do in England, is the typical nationalist reply. Who cares? It is not good enough to be the best of a bad lot – the aspiration for the SNP was to prove competent in Government, after which people might think more positively about independence.

Instead we have had 19 years of incompetence, stagnation and high taxation, with almost every service underdelivering for the public and the taxpayer.

It is definitely time for a change. If the pro-Union parties genuinely have the best interests of the people of Scotland at heart, they must work together to rid us of this divisive secretive SNP government, however much they dislike the idea of working together. Scotland cannot afford another five years of the SNP, and we deserve better.

Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothian

Comedy gold

In the latest edition of The Nigel Farage Show, also known as Reform UK, his “shadow” cabinet has been unveiled. It consists mostly of “experienced” former ministers from the previous catastrophic Conservative government such as Suella Braverman, whose main experience was being sacked from this most inept government in living memory.

In a move not even George Orwell could have made up in Nineteen Eighty-Four, she is to become Minister for Education, Skills and Equality and she has set out her stall already, pledging to ban everything, including equality. She will build a country based on “meritocracy, excellence and unity”, none of which qualities are exactly associated with Ms Braverman

Immigration, Reform's favourite issue – in fact, only issue – is left in the hands of Zia Yusuf, a child of Sri Lankan immigrants who came to the UK in the 1980s and achieved great success.

The next round of appointments will be revealed in due course. I expect Nadhim Zahawi, who has a great deal of experience in this area, to be in charge of fiscal policy and 30p Lee Anderson will take on some sort of diplomacy mantle. Both will be raging they’ve been passed over for the big jobs. And Nadine Dorries will be incandescent.

If the brilliant Armando Iannucci, or even Jonathan Swift, had written this as a political parody it would be thought by most to be too far-fetched. But, it has to be admitted, it’s comedy gold.

D Mitchell, Doune, Perthshire

Cards on table

The Bank of England is looking at loosening the grip of foreign debit and credit card networks.

In a society where cash has vanished, relying on a duopoly of US-owned Mastercard and Visa, which facilitate 95 per cent of UK card transactions, presents an unacceptable, strategic vulnerability to national sovereignty.

If these foreign systems were deactivated due to geopolitical sanctions or technical failures, the UK economy would cease functioning. A domestic alternative is essential to ensure operational resilience, prevent the weaponisation of financial infrastructure, and avoid returning to a 1950s-era cash crisis. Furthermore, a sovereign system would reduce high fees currently imposed on merchants by international giants, promoting competition. To protect economic security and ensure payment autonomy, the UK must urgently establish its own, robust payment infrastructure.

Doug Clark, Currie, Edinburgh

Electric avenues

Ian Moir (Letters, 18 February) is either naive or disingenuous in posing the question: “How will the lights stay on in Scotland when the wind fails to blow”?

Repeated references to “dunkelflaute weather conditions” betray a lack of understanding of current energy provision, which includes electricity imported from Europe that accounts for up to 20 per cent of the UK’s current requirements. In addition to existing energy provision, projected advances in tidal and wave energy conversion, plus improved back-up/storage via schemes such as pumped hydro, battery arrays and hydrogen production, will also help to balance future requirements.

What would be logical for Scotland, as an alternative to building (possibly taking a decade or more to come on-stream even utilising “unproven” small modular reactors) hugely expensive nuclear power stations with inherent safety/security risks and to paying even higher prices for electricity, would be to install direct electricity interconnectors to countries in Northern Europe, both to help facilitate greater access to electricity from Europe if and when required, but also to more readily export Scotland’s surplus electricity and move away from making constraint payments.

Furthermore, the current high price of electricity in Scotland is the direct result of the UK government continuing to effectively tie electricity pricing to the international gas price, and not a result of increasing dependence on renewable energy which, especially with recent advances in technology, is relatively cheap to produce and should be delivering lower electricity prices to both domestic and business consumers.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

A true colossus

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died this week, has been dubbed a “colossus”. A family statement said: “We gave him to the world, and in return, the world embraced him in our extended family.”

That extended family very much included Martin Luther King, who was his mentor in the Civil Rights movement. He was on the platform in Memphis when Dr King was assassinated. An iconic photo has him pointing out the assassin.

In 1979 he visited South Africa, then an apartheid state, in support of Nelson Mandela, imprisoned on Robben Island. He spoke out against apartheid, heedless of the risk to his own life.

Highlights of his life included coming close to becoming the first black President in the 1984 and 1988 elections. He ran unashamedly on a left wing manifesto, which was ahead of its time and largely adopted by Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders.

Not known for his sense of irony, Donald Trump called the Revd Jackson a “good man”. The two men were direct opposites. It's not too much to suggest that the Rev Jesse Jackson was a prophet, not always heeded in his own country.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

On course

I see Donald Trump is to have a “surveillance bunker” built at his Scottish golf course at Turnberry. I expect this will observe behaviour and ensure no cheating takes place during play.

I am reminded of the incident last summer when a caddy moved his ball to a more favourable lie than where it had landed. While no lover of electronic surveillance I welcome anything that might help regulate the behaviour of the current US President.

Ni Holmes, St Andrews, Fife

Help students

The Institute for Fiscal Studies have suggested the SNP will have to consider reducing its public spending or increase tax, if it secures office again, in May this year (your story, 17 February). Many in the British media have announced this with headlines suggesting the possible end of free tuition in Scotland. This is certainly a concern. Indeed, looking south of the Border we can see how many graduates are trapped by student loan debt. This has reached such a peak that the National Union of Students have expressed fury over the interest rates on student loans and the extent of student debt carried by English graduates.

It is common to hear stories of students borrowing in excess of £50,000 to cover fees. It would be a disaster to saddle our young here in Scotland with such a financial burden. We must learn from our neighbours.

At this point it is always worth remembering that university fees were always paid by the state. Indeed grants were also given to those who needed them. The Labour government decided to end the practice in 1997. Scotland is portrayed as an outlier, but in truth the Scottish government is delivering what was always delivered, since the early 1960s – free education.

Of course, another Scottish bonus, oft cited, is free prescriptions. What many Scots are unaware of is that all residents in England over 60 also have free prescriptions, as do those under 16 and those 16-18 in full time education.

Free personal care was recommended by the Sutherland Commission in 1999 for both England and Scotland but only Scotland took it up. Indeed, the BMA in England has continued to advocate for a system reflecting that in Scotland.

Stuart Smith, Aberdeen

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