Sturgeon is to blame for drug death scandal

A total of 1,339 drug deaths is a number that should be etched into the memories of all voters.

Fourteen years of gross mismanagement have seen neglect become the hallmark of the SNP.

Will the appointment of Angela Constance as the new drugs supremo make any difference?

Well, if her record as Education Secretary is any indication, don’t hold your breath.

Since the SNP came to power, more than 10,000 have died. This is an appalling indictment of failure. Who will accept ultimate responsibility and resign?

Shouldn’t it be Nicola Sturgeon? After all, she is responsible for appointments to the Cabinet and, ultimately, their failure.

Graham Wyllie, Airdrie, Lanarkshire

News that an additional 8,000 Scots have died at home since the pandemic began raises some crucial questions. What kind of help and support did those dying people or their families get?

Terminally ill people dying at home are heavily reliant on social, primary and community-based palliative care services, as well as family carer support.

As the country’s largest end-oflife charity, we have seen a significant increase in referrals to our community-based nursing and palliative care services, but we also know that the demand has been much higher and we suspect that many families have not had the support they needed.

Any public inquiry into Covid-19 must also look at community support provided to dying people to make sure we learn any lessons.

Richard Meade, Head of Policy, Scotland Marie Curie

For the past 81 days, fossil fuels, mostly gas, have supplied 43.6 per cent of our electricity, renewables only 19.1 per cent. Electricity is now 5.6 times the cost of the gas we use for cooking and heating.

Our economy needs a reliable electricity supply and politicians and the green brigade will face an angry public when the lights go out and jobs are lost.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Anyone arriving on the South Coast in an open boat from France is attempting illegal entry to the UK from a safe country. Positively encouraging illegal entrants with accommodation and meals at the cost of taxpayers is unacceptable.

D. Shaw, London

How about this for an idea?

Raise a flotilla of small boats, as they did for Dunkirk, to take the migrants back to the beaches of France.

David White, Basingstoke, Hampshire

We have a moral duty to take in asylum seekers. They are fleeing famine and war and need our help. In my opinion, the Government isn’t doing enough.

P. Patterson, Edinburgh