Stats make for grim reading

Sir, – An old but true proverb tells us that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions – and our First Minister is proving exactly that.

Of the 15 Bills put forward to the Scottish Parliament in the past years, only two appear to have actually been advanced to the final stage.

With that inglorious record behind her, Ms Sturgeon is now using it as a “springboard” for the coming parliamentary year to tell us that £7 billion of our money is to be spent on “public buildings” and £60 million is to go towards providing mental health care for younger members of our community.

While I am both puzzled and saddened by such an enormous sum needing to be spent on supposedly unstable schoolchildren, I note that statistics show that only 34% of under 18 year olds were treated in the time span that the Scottish Parliament itself initially drew up – and that, of course, was on Ms Sturgeon’s watch.

Promises, promises. Archibald A Lawrie. 5 Church Wynd, Kingskettle. created jointly by Education Scotland, the Scottish Government and the NHS, pupils aged five will be asked to decide whether they are a boy, a girl or neither.

I will leave your readers to decide what effect this will have on the waiting lists.

Iain Cathro.

31 Ferndale Drive, Dundee.