Independent Scotland unlikely to get cut-price Nato membership as threats rise

Everyone admires an optimist, but Mary Thomas (Letters, 16 October) is pushing it a bit if she thinks an independent Scotland would get cut-price Nato membership.

She is wrong to say that only Britain and the US pay the 2 per cent stipulated for membership. Poland, Estonia and Greece do also. Following President Trump’s sabre-rattling at the last Nato summit, and in the face of an increasingly aggressive Russia, all Nato countries are increasing spending, even serial under-spenders Germany.

Her accusations of dishonesty over frigates built on the Clyde cannot go unanswered. They are built in batches so as to learn from mistakes that might be made with the first batch, thereby saving money. Eight are already confirmed and the Clyde is in poll position for the other five.

Of course, there is also another reason for staggering production. Indyref2 is a possibility, and the Royal Navy will clearly not commit longterm to building warships in what could in the future be a foreign country.

Perhaps Mary Thomas could give some guarantees as to how many frigates will be built on the Clyde post-independence, particularly in relation to her claims of lower defence spending in an independent Scotland?

KEITH SHORTREED Methlick, Aberdeenshire

It’s a bit rich for Phil Tate to accuse douglas mayer of being economical with the truth (Letters, 18 October) when he regurgitates Labour’s deliberately misleading figures on local government funding that don’t compare like with like.

He also ignores the extra revenue available following the lifting of the council tax freeze and other Edinburgh council savings such as the £43 million a year since the formation of Police Scotland or the £8m a year paid directly to head teachers in Edinburgh to help bridge the attainment gap.

Also, Edinburgh has additional debt burdens due to Labour’s extortionate PFI schemes that resulted in crumbling schools plus their support for the expensive tram line that takes money away from front line services.

Mr Tate glosses over the fact that over the ten years to 201920 the Scottish Government’s budget is being cut by £2.6bn and, despite a cut of over £200m to Scotland’s block grant by the UK government this year, the 2018-19 Scottish budget protected local authority spending.

In contrast, council leaders in Wales faced cuts of 4.5 per cent this financial year and Jeremy Corbyn blamed Tory austerity for the cuts rather than the Labour-run Welsh Assembly.

Thanks to Labour joining the Tories at Westminster to oppose devolving most of the main taxes, the Scottish Government can only use its limited income tax powers or raise council tax to increase local government funding without cutting other vital services.

FRASER GRANT Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh