Haudin yer wheesht and just hoping for indy will not work
constitution involving Scotland’s “Claim of Right”. Not forgetting the Westminster government’s recognition of this. Importantly, the SNP government is also aware that Scotland’s people are sovereign, as opposed to the parliament as in the English parliament.
So why is it that the people have been – and still are being – ignored, considering the majority vote they have provided for an SNP government over the past several Scottish elections? And why is it that the current SNP government appears to have forgotten the fundamental reason for its very existence, that of Scotland as an independent country?
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
GEORGE Kerevan is right when he argues for a fundamental review of the way local government is funded. Council tax is one of the few taxes which is actually 100% used for its intended purpose. Other taxes such
Council tax is one of the few taxes that is 100% used for its intended purpose
as road tax and National Insurance are collected on a UK-wide basis but disappear into the greedy maw of Westminster government never to be seen again.
In my own time as a transport engineer working for Strathclyde Regional Council, we were very successful in securing funding from the EU for transport infrastructure. It was supposed to be extra funding to allow us to do more, but it seemed Westminster took the view that every pound we got from the EU was one less pound that they had to give us in Strathclyde, so we never did get the full benefit of the funding. Now of course we no longer have the benefit of EU funding.
We urgently need a system of finance for local government that is fairer and more transparent and which reflects the needs of individual councils. Let us see that as an early commitment in the manifestos of the major parties.
Ian Lawson
Milngavie
STAN Grodynski (Letters, Mar 25) would prefer that I “condemn the UK Government” than comment on “perceived SNP shortcomings”. I have been condemning the UK Government for the past 50 years but they just don’t seem to be listening! I live more in hope than expectation that the SNP might still be listening.
Local government and both the Scottish and UK governments are run by political parties. These parties implement policies – or in many cases fail to. Independence for Scotland will be won or lost mainly on the policies of the SNP, by it winning the hearts and minds of voters. It has been that way especially since the creation of the Scottish Parliament back in 1999. Simply haudin yer wheesht and hoping for independence will not work.
We will not gain independence by simply pointing to the ills of our southern neighbours and the actions of their government. The actions of the SNP and the Scottish Government now dictate when and if Scotland sees independence. The voters I still speak to on a regular basis do not want to hear too much about the council tax in Birmingham – they don’t live in Birmingham.
There is little point in either Mr Grodynski or I spending the rest of our lives individually “building a case with undecided voters” when our own government is attacking the very foundations of that case on a daily basis.
The letter by Glenda Burns that followed Mr Grodynski’s was a perfect illustration of the problems that we face. The procurement failures of the CalMac ferries have cost both financially and politically.
The Scottish public see a failure to make the best use of what finances we have been granted by the UK Parliament and now increasingly begin to wonder if a fully independent Scottish Government can be trusted to control the considerable wealth of our nation.
I suspect that most of Scotland’s electorate already accept that we are getting a less than fair financial deal from Westminster. We cannot expect to take Scotland forward to independence when the existing devolved parliament we have been granted by the UK makes decisions that many undecided voters find bizarre. For example, the bargain sale of the ScotWind leases, the long-term failure to replace the council tax, the ferry fiasco, hate crime legislation, gender recognition, the failure to support the Grangemouth refinery and yes – the introduction of freeports.
The coming General Election will decide the future of Scottish politics the next few years, at least until the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026. The loss of those elections by the current Green/SNP government would see independence off the political agenda for a long time.
The clock is ticking but when does the alarm go off?
Brian Lawson
Paisley
“TIME after time Scotland has been exploited and taken for granted by this broken Westminster system that then leaves Scots to pick up the tab for chronic underinvestment and Westminster’s obsession with nuclear,” says Dave Doogan (Outrage as households to be charged extra to help energy suppliers recover debt, thenational.scot, Mar 26).
Doogan is absolutely correct. But, astonishingly, he then adds, “Westminster has ignored Scotland for too long, showing why a strong SNP voice is necessary to ensure our values and our needs are advanced.” How illogical can someone be?! What is wrong with these pro-indy MPs that they can’t see the obvious?!
It matters not one jot how strong or weak their collective voice is in the cesspit; they will always be outnumbered and be treated with contempt as a result. Sanny Martin via thenational.scot