Women’s pensions

Tom Peterkin has confirmed that the Scottish Government, in the shape of Social Secretary Jeane Freeman, acknowledges that it has the powers to fix the ‘WASPI problem’ (Women Against State Pension Inequality). As with the Rape Clause, the SNP refuse to do this because it is ‘Westminster’s problem’. But is the real reason that to plug the gap and pay up to 150,000 extra pensioners around £8000 a year each would cost at least £800 million? This would cost Scotland’s 2.1 million taxpayers an average of £400 a year.

Alternatively they could totally close the NHS (annual budget £13bn) for three weeks every year or close our schools and colleges for three months.

None of these options are exactly vote catchers. Could this be why they don’t use the ‘Vow’ powers they demanded and got?

ALLAN SUTHERLAND Willow Row, Stonehaven