Readers' letters: SNP government's Civil Service and quangos need pruning

The Scotsman (March 22) reported that a consultancy firm has been paid more than £200 million to manage subsidies to farmers! Can it be all that difficult? You might think so given that the operation has been dogged with problems since the outset, resulting in long delays payouts to farmers. The farmers themselves blame the poor quality of the service we have paid £200m for!

The current UK Government is making a good start in reducing the waste incurred by the previous regime by abolishing the National Heath Service quango in England. Maybe something the SNP politicians could do for themselves is to examine closely the behemoth they have constructed to carry out the administration of their policies and consider where cuts can be made. Elon Musk's chainsaw may not be appropriate – but neither is a pair of secateurs.

Colin Hamilton, Edinburgh

Justified war

As a pro-Israel and anti-Hamas supporter I often read uneducated comments about the current situation in Gaza but a recent letter (Scotsman, 22 March) that compared the ethnic cleansing of Rwanda, where over 700,000 Tutsis were slaughtered, with the ongoing war reached a new low.

Also, to highlight protests by a minority of Israelis concerned about the plight of the hostages prompts the question where are the protests within Gaza. That’s because the people of Gaza are so radicalised in their beliefs that they are willing to sacrifice their own to shelter Hamas.

Israel’s war isn’t against Palestine. Gaza is simply a territory within Palestine. Their war is against Hamas. Hamas do not want peace. Their reluctance to free the hostages confirm this.

Lewis Finnie, Edinburgh

Starmer’s the worst

Here we are under the government of Sir Keir Starmer and “new” New Labour.

Our economy is in dire straits with £100 billion to be paid this year on interest payments on the £2.7 trillion national debt. National Insurance is going up, as is council tax. Tax bands are frozen though inflation continues. Thousands of the top one per ent of earners who pay 30 per cent of income tax are fleeing the country. Energy prices have increased and will continue to increase due to net zero which has made industry's fuel costs the highest in the developed world. Much of our industry has vanished because of this.

Pensioners have lost their winter fuel payments while the triple lock is under threat. Farmers have lost their planting payment help, and may lose their farms due to the government's inheritance tax changes.

Six million people are on NHS waiting lists UK wide. In some hospitals A&E is near collapse. Benefits for the disabled will be cut. Thousands of civil servants will lose their jobs. Plans to dual the A1 and A66 have been scrapped. Since the general election 28,000 illegal immigrants have bobbed across the Channel.Ordinary people fear expressing an opinion on social media in case they are accused of a “hate crime”.

And despite all these problems at home – and I suspect readers could add many others – Sir Keir Starmer is going to pick a fight with Russia and “put British troops on the ground and planes in the air” in Ukraine! When Starmer has left office people will look back at him as Britain's worst Prime Minister, without a doubt.

William Loneskie, Lauder, Scottish Borders

University closures

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has given a £22 million support package to the University of Dundee which has a black hole of £30 million (Scotsman, 20 March).

Last year eight of Scotland's 18 universities showed losses, so will Scottish taxpayers be forced to subsidise even more universities as they go into the red?

The number of foreign students coming to Scotland fell by 10,000 last year so that suggests that there are now too many Scottish universities for the number of students. There are 4,156 people on the Dundee University payroll with over 100 staff on over £100,000 a year salary. The reduction in the number of foreign students surely means that fewer Scottish universities are needed and fewer staff required.

Taxpayers have been funding free university places in Scotland for 17 years for those who were “ordinarily resident” in Scotland so allowing more free places is not an option. University closures and mergers with drastic reductions in employee numbers are needed.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Sleeping Pars

There are football clubs up and down the land who will argue they are a sleeping giant but Dunfermline Athletic have a better claim than most.

In a disappointing season they have averaged a 5,600 gate while “box office” games like Falkirk (8,558) and Raith Rovers (6,993) attract attendances half the Premiership would dream of.

Perhaps the giant needed a prod. Neil Lennon is just the man to do it, not so much because of his glittering and well documented career at Celtic but, more pertinently, because of what he achieved 2016-2019.

He took Hibs, languishing in the Championship, into the Premiership, Europe and left them one of the biggest clubs in Scotland. The new owners of Dunfermline Athletic are aware of the blueprint.

John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife

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