Hooray Holyrood

Another U- turn

Alexander Mckay must be one of the very few people in Scotland who hasn’t benefited from policies introduced by the Scottish Parliament ( Letters, 9 May). These are generally superior to elsewhere in the UK, where services are clearly getting worse under Westminster control and the gap between the richest and poorest is widening.

In all opinion surveys, most people agree our Scottish parliament has been good for the health service, schools and the economy plus, by nearly three to one, most believe Holyrood gives ordinary folk more say in how Scotland is governed.

Holyrood has led the way over health initiatives such as the smoking ban, alcohol minimum pricing and now on climate change with plans for a deposit return scheme for single- use drinks containers

Under Westminster rule all regions and nations of the UK suffer due to economic policies that are geared towards London’s interests – one of the reasons Holyrood needs full fiscal powers. As James Duncan points out ( Letters, 9 May), Scotland has extracted as much oil and gas as Norway but under Westminster control we have a deficit, which includes paying £ 3.6 billion a year towards interest on the UK’S national debt of £ 2000bn, while Norway has an abundance of riches. Westminster continues to be paralysed by

Brexit, whereas Holyrood remains stable and mature, with the SNP getting on with the day job.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh The S cotti s h Government climb down on aviation tax ( S c ot s man, 9 May) i s j ust the latest in an embarrassing series of events which, quite frankly, is making Scotland look ridiculous. It is bad enough that after demanding further powers in relation to welfare payments, more than three years down the line the only money spent has been on setting up a system which is still not ready to operate. Millions of pounds wasted, and Scotland seen as ineffectual.

Now we have Derek Mckay, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy a nd Fa i r Work, claiming that his U- turn on aviation tax is because a UK government committee failed to tell him that climate change is a serious problem. Perhaps he should have a word with John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, who could point out the relevant sections in Curriculum for Excellence which deal with climate change and sustainability. We expect schoolchildren to have an understanding of this issue. The Cabinet Secretary’s statement smacks of “It wisnae me”.

The last straw in the recent evidence of SNP i ncompetence is First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s infamous tweet poking fun at Ruth Davidson using a leaked recording of Ms Davidson’s rehearsal for her conference speech.

The First Minister tries to present herself as a player on the international stage. Can anyone i magine Merkel or Macron stooping to this level of public debate? Yet again, Scotland is diminished by SNP behaviour.

Over the last ten years the SNP were handed a golden

opportunity to demonstrate their competence in improving life in Scotland. Instead, they have damaged our education system, failed to meet health targets, undermined the police and presided over a rail system which consistent

ly fails passengers. Their failure to act in the manner we are entitled to expect from government ministers is just the icing on their cake.

CAROLE FORD Terregles Avenue, Glasgow