Balanced views

and respected educational system. Come the Scottish election in May 2021, it will be the time to hold the First Minister to her word.

In exam parlance, she and her ministers have “failed” and their ideology and incompetence needs to be judged accordingly.

RICHARD ALLISON Braehead Loan, Edinburgh

An interesting suggestion from Otto Inglis (Letters, 5 August) that there should be contributions from climate change sceptics from time to time.

However, he doesn’t go far enough. There are far too many unsubstantiated views and opinions floating around in this area. What we need is

a double column approach – with the sceptical arguments laid out in sequence on one half of the page and a response from an independent fact checker on the other – taking each point in turn and either confirming or refuting it.

This approach would be much more systematic and helpful. And it need not apply only to climate change – there are many topics in the political arena where incomplete or misleading statistics are thrust at a bewildered public.

BARRY HUGHES Comiston Drive, Edinburgh

ter United for a fee of £108m. Celtic may sell Harald Brattbakk for £40m. Rangers may sell Alfredo Morelos for £25m. The majority of top-class footballers earn more in a week than people can earn in a year and in some cases ten years. Then a management career and TV keeps the money rolling in.

The UK government desperately needs more tax income to pay for the costs arising from Covid-19. Stamp Duty Land Tax is paid when buying a property and is 12 per cent on a purchase price of over £1.5m.

A new Football Transfer Tax (FTT) of 20 per cent should be introduced. High earners pay a top tax rate of 40 per cent on their salaries (Scotland 41 per cent). A new 60 per cent tax rate and FTT would provide billions of pounds of muchneeded extra taxes every year.

The Scottish Government is in charge of Scotland’s tax system, so what about beating Westminster to the punch?

CLARK CROSS Springfield Road, Linlithgow