Scottish Government’s baby box ‘fail’

Sir, – Your regular unionist correspondents once again pepper The Courier’s pages with their SNP/BAD propaganda.

The Scottish Government hasn’t claimed their baby box scheme is a panacea, as suggested by Jill Stephenson (Letters, December 21). They are well aware of the other factors required to ensure a healthy environment for our infants, and are taking steps accordingly.

Ms Stephenson’s other claim that only 35% of new parents had used, or were planning to use, the box as a bed, is incorrect – the figure is 62%.

In Ms Stephenson’s imagination, the 100% satisfaction figure is evidence of “a certain type of regime” – a repeat of the charge that Scots live under a totalitarian dictatorship.

Yet Keith Howell (Letters, December 21) complains of the Green Party’s influence regarding our budget.

The Holyrood voting system was designed from the outset to encourage cooperation in a parliament where no party would hold an absolute majority.

Clark Cross (Letters, December 20) claiming that Scottish taxes are higher compared to England is an outright falsehood. Nurses in particular will pay less tax. His fear that medical professionals will leave the best-performing NHS in the UK to work in an increasingly chaotic NHS England, where the public sector pay freeze still applies, is equally risible.

To highlight the parlous state of NHS England, hospitals there have been advised to cancel non-emergency operations in order to deal with a postchristmas spike in A&E cases, with the term, “meltdown” being quoted in the media.

Mr Cross also complains of money spent on developing Prestwick Airport, and “failed renewables projects”. The former, a sound future investment, the latter, in spite of Westminster’s attempts at cutting it off at the knees, a success story we would be proud of.

A unified Police Scotland has saved taxpayers’ money, not gobbled it up as Mr Cross would have us believe.

His final complaint, that the SNP spend money on promoting Scotland abroad smacks of the Scottish cringe.

Those with an emotional attachment to Westminster rule have every right to argue for their governing body of choice. However, this does not excuse their persistent deflection and dishonesty.

Sadly, this will no doubt continue in 2018. Ken Clark.

335 King Street, Broughty Ferry.

Maternity staff at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy with the new baby boxes.