Discordant note

only free if you can get a place.

As is well-known, there is a cap on the number of places available for non-paying Scottish and EU students as economic reality dictates that universities require fee income to survive. The graduation lists are dominated by non-british and non-eu students.

One example I would point readers to is the graduation list for the degree of Master of Business Administration at Heriot-watt University. A rough count showed a total of 380 graduates. I could see about 28 names that could be British, though I had no way of knowing how many were Scottish.

There were a further 38 that could have been EU students, leaving more than 300 who were Asian or African feepayers.

The SNP talk about investing in Scotland’s future by educating our young people whilst the reality is we’re educating the rest of the world at our children’s expense because of an ideological, unsustainable fixation. Thank you to Jackie Woods and John Birkett (Letters, 21 and 22 June) for pointing out the woeful lack of media interest in Scotland’s success at the Cardiff Singer of the World.

Catriona Morison not only was joint winner of the Song Prize, but also was the outright winner of the main (Operatic) prize against formidable competition from the US, England, Australia and Mongolia.

And what about Nicola Sturgeon? Did she send congratulations? Who is supposed to alert our First Minister to Scottish cultural triumphs? She could now send an email c/o to the opera house in Wuppertal where Catriona is singing.

IAN LA TERRIÈRE Dunalastair, Perthshire