Wishful thinking

It saddened me to read that amongst all the social and economic hardship, the misery and the grief we are living through because of the pandemic, for Robert IG Scott the thing that transcends all else, the silver lining, is the preservation of the Union and the damage it might do to the independence movement (Letters, 25 March).

However, it seems naive to suggest that we’ll come through it to a situation of “lower taxation”. It has to be freely acknowledged that the recovery package put together by the UK government stems from extraordinarily extenuating circumstances, but nevertheless, it is built on a mountain of existing debt and will have to be paid for by future generations. What worries me particularly, is the fact that successive incompetent Conservative governments have managed the difficult trick of putting us through ten years of austerity while tripling the national debt to £2 trillion pounds. As Henry L Philip helpfully explained (Letters, same day) that’s a 2 and 12 zeroes.

Mr Scott ignores the fact that the SNP won 47 seats in the last General Election and indulges in a little wishful thinking by saying that it “has passed its sell-by-date”. We’ll see, but it’s probable that they will be judged on how they manage the current crisis. The country is facing the biggest challenge it has faced since the disastrous Darien experiment in Panama. Could it be that our present situation might result in a diametrically opposite result?

GILL TURNER Derby Street, Edinburgh

If we put aside the obvious distaste for the Scottish Government shown in the letter from Robert IG Scott in Wednesday’s

Scotsman, we must really wonder if he lives in a different world.

The PM like a puppet on the string dangled by Cummings, a modern day Rasputin, has dithered for weeks and failed to instigate many emergency measures until now. Does Mr. Scott’s “marvellous job” reflect the failure to provide adequate and suitable safety equipment for NHS and other emergency

staff? Was there any real attempt to identify manufacturers and suppliers of such materials until the mainly voluntary proposals from Industry this week?

Or the lack of forward planning for transport, travel and the food chain. The PM still seems obsessed with Brexit at a time while all the attention of the UK Government should be focussed on the present cri sis. A concerted approach by all political parties is required leaving Brexit, Scottish Independence and related matters aside for the duration.

Such an approach worked from 1939-1945, but at that time there were politicians of stature and honesty.

IAN SUTHERLAND Liberton, Edinburgh