SNP improving Scottish lives

Madam, – While saddened by the deaths of Derek Farmer’s two relatives in cycling accidents (Letters, October 16) I am appalled by his appropriation of these events as a means of attacking Holyrood and the Scottish independence movement.

As a life-long cyclist, I have been knocked into a ditch by a lorry, and had drivers on two occasions deliberately attempt to run me over.

I have been beckoned forward by occupants of a van at a blind crossing only to find a car bearing down on me at speed.

As this greatly amused the van occupants as they passed me, I suspect their actions were deliberate.

All these incidents pre-date Holyrood, illustrating that sharing our roads with individuals who are careless, dangerous or downright idiotic is not a new phenomenon.

Mr Farmer believes Holyrood hasn’t improved the lives of Scots. He is wrong.

Organisations such as the UN, Red Cross, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and many others regularly praise our Scottish Government for their efforts, which is reflected by satisfaction levels in Scottish public services being the highest in the UK.

Meanwhile Westminster is just as regularly castigated for wrecking lives, with claims that Tory policies, described by a UN poverty envoy as “punitive, mean spirited and often callous”, are directly responsible for over a hundred thousand deaths.

Mr Farmer supports both Westminster and the Conservatives.

His two recent bereavements are indeed a tragedy.

Sadly, his own party, pursuing their obsessive political dogma, view thousands of deaths as merely a statistic.

Ken Clark. Thorter Way, Dundee.