Snow stupidity

It’s hardly believable that, at the height of the snow crisis last week, Nicola Sturgeon, her ministers and their partners the Greens chose to ignore transport minister Humza Yousaf’s red alert. Instead ,they forced MSPS to closet themselves at Holyrood to debate and vote on as an emergency Scottish Brexit “Continuity” Bill. Inappropriately timed, hastily and poorly drawn up, this measure represented little more than the First Minister’s latest refusal to accept the result of a democratically conducted referendum. Plotting to thwart the UK Government and cause a constitutional crisis seemed more of a priority for Ms Sturgeon than doing her day job at a time when heavy snow problems had closed down Scotland, with serious consequences for the economy.

After motorists were trapped in their cars overnight on the M80, repeating exactly what happened in 2010 – when the then transport minister had to resign – Mr Yousaf, backed by Ms sturgeon, had to find someone to blame, despite their absence of planning being the real culprit. They lambasted haulage owners for not having taken all their HGV trucks off the road, despite the fact shop shelves were bare and deliveries of food and other essentials were urgently needed.

Having not exactly excelled himself as transport minister, Mr Yousaf had a foray, rather outside his brief, into matters relating to employment law.

Before admitting that he did not know the legal position, he announced that employers docking employees’ wages for not turning up for work because of his red alert should be named and shamed or fined. He did not seem aware that some small businesses could not afford to pay their workers as they had had serious cash flow problems and were close to bankruptcy after last week’s events. Perhaps also in his naivety, he considered that extra money or days off in lieu should be given to those workers who did manage to get into work!

Taking everything into account, is it not fortunate that the Scottish Government and, I suppose, the rest of us, hit the jackpot with the start of a slow thaw in some areas last weekend? SALLY GORDON - WALKER

Caiystane Drive, Edinburgh

In response to the letter from Margaret Wallace (3 March), the amount of salt/grit is controlled by the exit door on the gritter, not the speed of the machine. Last March I was in northern Norway, where they get a lot of snow. The few days I was there they had a 4ft level fall. I travelled a fair distance on a coach on roads that had only been swept by the snowplough – no salt, no grit – and the driver’s average speed was 50mph, with all other vehicles travelling at similar speeds on a single carriage way. Norway does not use salt, only occasionally stone chips, which can be recovered after winter and used again; mostly the roads are swept only by the snowploughs. Coaches, lorries,some cars and pushbikes run on studded tyres, some cars run on winter tyres. I did not see any potholes or roads in need of repair, even on roads bare of snow, which suggests that it is not the studs that destroy roads but the salt.

Perhaps the Department of Transport could learn to deal with winter if staff paid a visit to Norway to see how to keep traffic moving with no accidents. ROBERT D FLEMING

Lammerview Chirnside, Duns