Named persons will be scrapped

Sir, - Education Secretary John Swinney has apologised to the Holyrood education committee for the latest misstep in the long introduction of the named person scheme.

He recognised he had further confused people with the draft guidance for those implementing this ill-judged law, and he missed another opportunity to accept that the difficulties getting this scheme into practice are not mere coincidence.

It is not just that it has already fallen foul of the European Convention of Human Rights.

It is also that this clumsy attempt to protect the thankfully small minority of children genuinely at risk, by inserting the State into the lives of all families, is misguided. Scarce resources will be spread so thin those genuinely needing protection will still be at risk , while inconsistency in application could lead to misuse of powers.

The named person scheme will be scrapped whether this or a future government will unravel this worst example of the SNP’s we-know-best approach.

Keith Howell. White Moss,

West Linton.

Lyme disease is a present and developing threat to all sectors of our community regardless of where they live and the annual influx of 45 million potential vectors into the UK should not be ignored