Readers' Letters: Government should teach people how to save heat to save money

I have reduced the gas I use by 70 per cent since 2018, mainly by modifications to my gas central heating. My boiler was serviced by five different experienced gas engineers over 16 years and none pointed out defects. I had to work things out for myself.

Home Energy Scotland supports grant funding for wealthy people to install insulation and heat pumps. They aim to retrofit 20,000 homes a year. At this rate it will take over a century to convert Scotland’s housing stock. The Scottish Government ignores the 81 per cent of people who rely on mains gas for heating. There is evidence that people rely on gas engineers for heating advice, but very few are knowledgeable about fuel efficiency.

If you understand how to improve gas central heating efficiency, it is easy to identify measures to save fuel after a brief survey, so heat stays inside instead of leaving a building via the boiler flue. Some of these measures cost nothing, others require investment, often of small sums.

The Scottish Government could direct Home Energy Scotland to help ordinary people with simple, effective and cheap measures to reduce fuel use. A partnership could be forged between Home Energy Scotland and some heating engineers. This would help all round, including decarbonising home heating.

Andrew Muirhead, Ayr

Get back

In view of Donald Trump's behaviour I think the Royal visits to the USA should be cancelled, Trump golf courses should be closed and visa restrictions should be imposed on US citizens.

Colin McAllister, St Andrews, Fife

Go it alone

Anas Sarwar could still conceivably become the First Minister of Scotland, but only if he acts now to break from London Labour and establish an Independent Scottish Labour Party committed to the principle that Scotland’s future should be determined by Scotland’s people.

Continuing to align with Sir Keir Starmer, with his many U-turns, will lead to increasing numbers of those who previously voted Labour being persuaded to vote for Reform UK (in spite of the regressive economic and social consequences of Brexit as promoted by Nigel Farage). Meanwhile the majority of past Labour supporters will sensibly decide to vote for a party exclusively serving the interests of the people of Scotland – or perhaps, regrettably, not vote at all.

It seems the time has finally arrived for Mr Sarwar and Labour supporters in Scotland to cease attempting to ride, at the same time, two competing horses, “Involuntary Union” and “Free Scotland”, and to back the only horse which can win an egalitarian, just and prosperous future for Scotland’s children.

Stan Grodynski, Longnidry, East Lothian

Over-optimistic

Dr Geraldine Prince’s remarks suggesting that SNP-run Scotland has a superior quality of life to anywhere else on this planet were comprehensively demolished by David Millar (Letters, 17 January).

It’s utterly absurd to make these claims when we have the highest mortality rates from drug and alcohol abuse in the whole of Western Europe, along with the lowest life expectancy of all four UK nations. Not to mention crumbling infrastructure and a failed education system.

Similarly, Herbert Petrie’s letter (same day) contains other common separatist fantasies. After leaving the United Kingdom we could “keep a fairer social security net, protect the state pension and set our own minimum wage that reflects the cost of living”.

Apparently, such generosity would be affordable because “our renewable energy potential is world class, offering lower cost energy not just for us but for export too” as well as paying for a £20 billion “Building New Scotland fund”.

This ludicrous assertion ignores the intermittent reliability of wind turbine generation, lack of storage capacity and the £358 million in constraint subsidies paid to operators in Scotland last year.

Mr Petrie casually mentions EU membership, avoiding the inconvenient fact that a state with a budget deficit the size Scotland’s would be after separation simply wouldn’t be allowed in; Brussels doesn’t want a repeat of the Greek bailout crisis ever again.

Enthusing about a £15 billion Scottish trade surplus, he forgets nearly two thirds of our exports go to rUK, benefiting from cross border free trade

Finally, Mr Petrie wrongly states that £1.5bn per annum would be “saved” by not contributing to Britain’s defence budget. Nationalists hate to be reminded that HM Naval Base Clyde alone supports over 30,000 jobs here, making a multi-billion pound annual contribution to our economy.

And of course, Mr Petrie neglects to factor in the cost of setting up and maintaining adequate defence forces in this increasingly unstable world of ours if his nightmarish wish ever came true.

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

Think hard

In politics timing is everything. Enter John Swinney with yet another tilt at Scottish independence at the very moment the fragility of not only the UK but the EU and even Nato is exposed. President Donald Trump holds almost all the cards when it comes to power politics. Europe might huff and puff over Donald Trump's desire to add Greenland to the United States but if he really wants to, who can stop him?

Meantime John Swinney simply exposes Scotland's weak position if it was independent. No real thought has been given to Scotland's defences. No thought has been given to the dangers of not having nuclear weapons, nor the huge costs of an army, navy and airforce as well as cyber security and much else. Independence needs to be carefully planned if it is ever to work. Careful planning is not one of the SNP's strengths, is it? Independence is outwith the SNP's grossly overvalued pay grade. Fix the hospitals instead.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Dangerous rock

The SNP's fixation with gender politics and seeming eagerness to place violent male prisoners in female prisons was apparently one of the catalysts for the two millionaire Easdale brothers to come off the fence and back Labour financially in the next election. Other sore points were the SNP's lack of focus on the economy and transport. Few would disagree.

In fact, I would go further and venture, rich donors or not, this fixation with gender will be the rock on which the SNP will finally perish.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Give it a rest

On the BBC Sunday Show, Scotland’s Reform leader Malcolm Offord said that even thinking about another referendum should be delayed for ten years and only considered if whoever is in power has transformed Scotland and proved we have the politicians, public servants and workforce that can make independence work.

He also demolished John Swinney's straw-clutching demand that a majority of pro-Indy MSPs should trigger Indyref2, arguing vote share is the only valid measure. No wonder Mr Swinney avoids this “gold standard” – around 60 per cent of Scotland's 4.3 million voters (2.6m) take part in Holyrood elections. Current polls forecast 35 per cent for the SNP, equating to around 900,000 votes. How can only one in five of 4.3m voters bothering to go out and vote for the party that wants another referendum represent demand for independence?

And just to rub in the point, 3.6m voted in the 2014 referendum, so 900,000 votes equates to 25 per cent “yes”.

Give it a rest, John!

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Safeguard turbines

While, at first sight, it looks clever to have about 300 new wind turbines destined for our shores which can generate enough electricity for 6,000,000 people, we should be taking a good look at Ukraine where winter misery is widespread because of the Russians systematically destroying more and more power stations. Ukraine had 200,000 people's power supply shut down by Russia this week!

I trust the cables from our wind turbines are multiple, and separate cables which will reach the British mainland by various sub-sea routes, to arrive at various places. Groups of seaborne wind turbines and their cables are a “sitting duck” for any enemy missile, or even a hostile submarine. Let us beware!

Archibald A Lawrie, Kingskettle, Fife

Nothing to see

I applaud MP Andrew Rosindell's principled defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK over the Chagos Islands, and am confident that his 1,463 majority, 30 per cent collapse of his vote and Reform UK's 9,624 (22 per cent) at the last general election had in no way affected his judgment.

Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshirehyhy

Thanks, Allan

Reading yesterday’s Scotsman (19 January) I was saddened to learn that I will no longer be able to read Allan Massie’s reviews and previews on Scottish rugby in the paper.

Perhaps because of our Borders connections I invariably found myself in agreement with his views, which is remarkable considering he supports Selkirk and I’m originally from Gala!

David Elder, Haddington, East Lothian

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