Scotland wins

The Republic of Ireland is not utopia (Martin O’gorman, Letters, 4 January) but it is far better prepared to meet current challenges than a stagnant British economy outside the EU. Recently, The Economist magazine ranked Ireland the “clear winner” among European economies as the world enters a “troubling” period. In a feature entitled the European Economic Pentathlon, the publication ranked the EU economies based on “five major challenges” facing all of them, including demand, debt, demography, decarbonisation and decoupling exposure.

On average, Irish citizens enjoy a higher standard of living plus lower levels of poverty than in the UK, and international trade has boomed, with 44 direct ferry sailings to Europe each week.

While the UK national debt increases, the Irish government is putting some of its budget surplus into a New Ireland Fund, something Scotland could have done had we been a self-governing nation when North Sea Oil revenues were flowing to Westminster and used for tax cuts and London infrastructure rather than investing in the A9 or modernising our shipyards and manufacturing industries. As a result, Scotland’s GDP is half that of Ireland’s.

The current UK Government is cutting Scotland’s capital budget by 20 per cent, after inflation, by 2028/29, which is brutal for Scotland’s infrastructure, including roads, building houses, schools and hospitals.

We all want things to improve but it should be recognised that, despite Tory austerity, Scotland has a much better-performing NHS than in England or in Labour-run Wales, and our school pupils are achieving better exams results, with 94 per cent of all school leavers going on to positive destinations.

Under the SNP poverty levels are now lower than in England and Wales and the unique £25 a week Child Payment is acknowledged as a game changer by relevant charities. Mary Thomas

Edinburgh