Readers' Letters: Mhairi Black isn't consistent on Palestine

Both are important issues and few would deny that the current situation in Gaza is deeply tragic, but Black may also want to reflect on the persecution and violence experienced by those who do not identify as heterosexual in Palestine. Perhaps she is in denial of the reality that Hamas opposes the decriminalisation of same-sex acts across the territory, with the terrorist group seemingly also supporting flogging for acts of adultery. The conflict in the Middle East is significantly more multi-faceted than this, yet it surprises me that Black isn't more vocal on the shocking treatment of LGBTQ people in Gaza.

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire

Inherit the wind

On the eve of President Trump's visit to Scotland our First Minister felt he had to talk about Gaza and allowing peaceful protests.

Why? This is a holiday for Donald Trump and he ought to be putting out the red carpet, not tacitly encouraging protests. Does anyone ever see peaceful protests any more? Can no one see that Hamas could end the suffering in Gaza at a stroke?

There was a time when politicians actually did what their election manifesto promises said. This is still true about Donald Trump, less so about John Swinney or his predecessors, and definitely not true about Keir Starmer. The silent majority in Scotland may well see our country's good reputation trashed by a few militant protestors. Mr Swinney could find he has unleashed a maelstrom.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Close Holyrood

The Scottish Parliament has lost all sense of purpose. It was created by a consortium of Labour/Liberal politicians back in 1998, but it has been under SNP rule for the past 18 years. In 2007 the Nationalists formed a minority government, before going on to win the 2011 Holyrood election. But, as I am sure everyone is aware, the situation in Scotland since then has deteriorated noticeably in almost all devolved sectors.

So, unless by a sheer miracle John Swinney and his Ministers can pull the rabbit out of the hat, and make major changes in almost all sectors, the only rational way out of Scotland's dilemma is for Holyrood to be closed as a Scottish Parliament, and for Government of these Islands to return at the earliest opportunity to Westminster.

Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife

Drink to England

Today, as I make my journey home from England after a month away, I reflect on the common bonds that make the UK a wonderful entity. A love of the outdoors, a love of guid beer, similar weather systems, beautiful countryside and amazing people.

England does appear to be a bit more civil in its workings; for instance, one can purchase a bottle of wine when collecting one’s newspaper at 7am, thus negating the need to return at 10am, doubling the carbon footprint, due to the draconian rules imposed on us Scots. Also, said bottle of wine is £3 cheaper than in Scotland due to the lack of the MUP tax imposed upon us. If, as we are told on a regular basis, we are under the imperial boot of Westminster, then bring it on I say, if only for the two examples given.

And let’s not forget, it was only this June that we were “allowed” to have a beer or a glass of wine on the train – four years after Covid.

It really makes me proud to live in such a progressive nation, where the only subjugation imposed is from the enlightened geniuses at Holyrood.

Another reason giving powers to devolved “governments” should not be allowed… as anyone will know, when people get the “club blazer” power consumes the bearer, and they lose sight of what they are there for – to serve, not dominate.

Ah well, it has been a great few weeks, now back to the daily gruel of the enlightenment!

D Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Powerless

The article by Eric Knight is interesting, forward-looking yet pitched from a UK point of view (Perspective, 21 July). Scotland’s future is definitely not about fossil fuels, “but about reshaping the UK’s energy future, unlocking enduring economic value, strengthening national security and creating skilled jobs across the country for generations to come”, he concludes.

All very well, however, he fails to separate Scotland from the UK in his argument. For example, he claims each GW (gigawatt) of new offshore wind capacity adds £2-3 billion to the UK economy and supports many thousands of jobs. How much of this will benefit Scotland when Westminster is in control of energy policy? Additionally, each GW of electricity can power a million homes.

Scotland’s expensive energy bills are the result of the UK Government’s outdated energy market – a system still determined by fossil fuels and not cheap renewables. Westminster control of the purse strings prevents Holyrood from setting up its own energy company for this green energy bonanza. If over £10bn can be found to instal five subsea electricity cables from Scotland to England, why is Scotland having monster pylons planted on its picturesque countryside?

The current wholesale price of wind turbine electricity is 3.7p per kWh, yet we’re paying 25p per kWh!

Why are we paying unnecessarily high energy charges for our own renewable electricity? England needs these connectors to access our cheap, renewable wind power.

Costs of England's Sizewell-C nuclear plant are set to spiral – leaving Scots with still higher energy bills after Energy Security Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed the plant will cost £38bn, nearly double the previous estimate.

Successive UK governments profess to have an interest in Scotland’s welfare when the evidence is to the contrary.

DW Lowden, Mannofield, Aberdeen

Rural failure

The article by Katrina Bussey (25 July) highlights a £38 million spend to link Paisley with Glasgow Airport, £23m to provide faster links between Ardrossan and Glasgow and a massive spend of £3m for work on the A75 that connects Belfast with Gretna. Once again it appears the SNP have failed to point out that the upgrades for Paisley and Ardrossan need only cover a distance of about 10 miles – the distance from Cairnryan and Gretna is over 100 miles!

Why, then, did the Holyrood Transport Secretary not re-allocate the cash, with £61m going to the rural South and let Paisley and Ardrossan share the £3m? After all, the SNP have allocated £5 billion for the A9 and millions on rail links in the Borders, so why their lack of support for rural Galloway ?

Ian Moir, Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway

Bit of everything

It appears David Millar (Letters, 24 July) would prefer that the NHS in Scotland focus on reducing long waiting times for non-urgent procedures rather than focus resources on those in need of urgent treatment. While following NHS England in this regard may capture some headlines, the fact is that the NHS in Scotland outperforms the NHS in England and Wales across a range of vital statistics, even when not meeting ambitious targets, and most people in Scotland agree with prioritising urgent treatment over long waits (which the Scottish Government is also working to reduce through committing further funding).

As for Mr Millar’s list of SNP failures, perhaps by way of balance he should consider the Scottish Government’s performance within the framework of UK Government devolution he seemingly supports. Not just in Scotland but across the UK low-level crimes are not being reported, while the prison services are compelled to release prisoners early.

Mr Millar and other contributors to these pages appear obsessed with “the ferries” but fail to acknowledge that the SNP Scottish Government delivered the Queensferry Crossing on time and under budget, while London’s Crossrail floundered and HS2 is a continuing astronomical failure by comparison (with costs in the tens of billions of pounds and sky-rocketing).

As for disruption in our schools, this is an issue with which both the UK and Scottish governments are wrestling, especially following Covid and the increasingly negative impact of social media on our youth. The cost of reaching out directly to businesses in other countries is not cheap but the costs are tiny relative to the foreign investment the Scottish Government has secured, as is evidenced by Scotland being rated higher than other parts of the UK for inward investment.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

New excuse

How I long for the day when someone, anyone, in authority in the SNP will take responsibility for events over which they have full control and accept they got things wrong.

Usually it is the all-consuming “Westminster” that is the omnipresent devil, causing all the problems, conniving and conspiring to make the SNP look bad. Occasionally they feel obliged to change the focus – those in charge must know even their most sheep-like followers have breaking points.

And so, with Westminster out of the equation, we learn that the Covid scandal, where virus-stricken old people were released into care homes to infect others, was really all the fault of the care homes. Well, they had to find someone. Apparently, the “care homes should have known” how to treat them.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

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