Scotlandrules

Brian Monteith is wrong (Perspective, March 1). Scotland is not a failed state because it is not at state but a region of the UK. Devolution is a UK creation, ultimately controlled by Westminster. The UK Government dictates the overall size of the Scottish Government budget. The Scottish Government has only a limited ability to tax and no borrowing powers.

Despite these constraints and a decade of Westminster imposed austerity, the Scottish Government’ s achievements are considerable. Scots benefit from free university tuition, subsidised childcare, free prescriptions, council tax that averages £500 less than England, free personal and nursing care, free bus travel for the disabled, over-60s and soon for all under 19s, and a more progressive income tax so that 54 per cent of people pay less than elsewhere in the UK. Because the Scottish Government spends more per capita on healthcare than any UK region, its Health Service is the top UK performer. Scotland has more GPS, nurses and midwives, nearly twice as many hospital beds and patients are seen more quickly. Finally, Scotland’s superior Covid response has resulted in a 40 per cent lower infection rate, 20 per cent lower death rate and a 50 per cent lower care home death rate.

If only partial control over Scotland can deliver these results, imagine what an independentscotland can achieve. The failed state, Mr Monteith, is the UK.

LEAH GUNN BARRETT Merchiston Crescent, Edinburgh