End inertia of government

Sir, - I suggest that a new i-word should replace independence in the SNP’s dictionary.

My new word would be inertia.

Consider the named person policy and the minimum alcohol pricing policy going nowhere due to legal issues, mainly caused by a failure to anticipate the challenges.

Consider fracking where the SNP is

sitting on the fence with its moratorium. Either it is safe to frack or it is not.

If it is safe, let’s get on with it. If it is not safe, let’s ban it. In the meantime, this is an example of another policy going nowhere.

In trying (laudably) to close the attainment gap, the First Minister appoints her capable deputy John Swinney. But even he won’t confront the teaching unions, COSLA and the education establishment, so this will be another policy failure.

What happened to the summer initiative to debate independence? Well, it has been delayed to the autumn. More inertia.

Finally, 15 months after his death in Kirkcaldy, Sheku Bayoh’s family wait to hear how he died.

Why doesn’t our First Minister pick up the phone and instruct the Lord Advocate to reach a conclusion on this tragic case?

I think it’s time for Labour, Liberal and Conservative leaders in Scotland to work together in an electoral arrangement to get rid of this inertia.

North Ayrshire is a small example of how it might be achieved.

Alan Thomson. Easter Dunochil, High Street, Kinross.

But more importantly, new power storage techniques promise to provide the answer to turning off turbines when the wind blows too hard