Poor Scotland

William Ballantine's letter of 30 October about the Budget suggests that he is unamr ware that more than 40 per cent of taxation raised from Scotland is retained by Westminster to pay a “population share” of expenditure which is of no benefit to, and has not been agreed to by, the people of Scotland.

These items to which we are forced to contribute include: illegal nuclear weapons (costing £1,830 per minute); Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station; HS2 Rail; London Cross Rail; the House of Lords; buildings in Westminster; a contribution to the billions paid to private companies for defective PPE etc.

There is also the “London weighting” by which the richest city in the UK, with a population nearly twice that of Scotland, pays wages, salaries and benefits that are higher than anywhere else, at our expense.

All this money raised from Scotland should be being spent where it is really needed, in Scotland, for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Pittances returned do not compensate for the injustice of the constant removal of the wealth of Scotland to support the vanity projects of London and the South-east.

The taxpayers of Scotland pay much more to Westminster than they get back because of the accounting systems used, and are continually deliberately disadvantaged by it.

The 35 per cent privatisation of National Health England, for example, reduces the amount paid to National Health Scotland by that amount, but the same amount of tax from Scotland is retained by Westminster. SUSAN FG FORDE

Scotlandwell Kinross-shire