Readers Letters: Idea to cut teachers' contact with pupils to four days deserves dunce's cap

Is Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth aware that there are parents in Scotland who actually work? They may be the minority but their taxes are contributing to her wages and the running of schools.

Also, has she consulted employers about the impact on their businesses?

And this daft idea from someone who worked in education.

I despair, but as the money given out in the benefit system is only going to rise and include more young people under the SNP, Ms Gilruth obviously sees no reason to provide the next generation with basic work ethic skills.

Elizabeth Hands, Armadale, West Lothian

One day...

Labour's Jackie Baillie is spot-on with her criticism of the waste of money by the SNP on fighting to keep men in women's jails (Perspective, 20 November). They continue to flout the law. In cases like this there is, surely, a good argument that those continuing to do this and sending the legal bill to Joe Public should be paying the fines and costs themselves.

Ms Baillie makes an excellent point, also, on the First Minister finding time effortlessly to record videos about falling autumn leaves and to attend rugby games but none can be spared to speak, as he promised, with For Women Scotland.

There will, hopefully, come a day of reckoning for this and similar breaches of promises.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Blame Westminster

It seems incredible that many of the regular contributors to these pages who are staunch supporters of the anachronistic and failing Union do not actually understand how devolution within the United Kingdom functions.

Day after day we read letters blaming the SNP for matters related to energy provision and Scotland’s economy in general when most of the key decisions are made in London. It was not surprising when, at the last general election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar attempted to duplicitously blame the Scottish Government for the cost of living woes experienced by Scots, as well as strained public services and every other manifestation of broken Britain. Seventeen months of the Labour Party in power at Westminster has starkly revealed where most of the blame lies, and it is not at Holyrood.

Instead of providing simplistic soundbites attacking the SNP or those supporting the right of Scotland to determine its own future it would increase the prospect of sustaining the Union, at least in some form (perhaps as a federation, or even better, as a confederation), if these writers were to openly recognise the UK’s current parlous state and contribute positive ideas on democratically building a sound constitutional basis on which to create a bright future for each of the nations inhabiting these islands.

Stan Grodynski, Longnidry, East Lothian

Food profiteers

Like many of your readers I would love to visit some of the 70 odd restaurants your reviewer Gaby Soutar visited in the last year, but can’t afford to. While headline inflation figures showed a welcome drop to 3.6 per cent, food inflation remains stubbornly high at nearly 5 per cent. The poor spend a higher proportion of their income on food and are hardest hit by the cost of living scourge, yet supermarkets are raking in the profits and a cartel keeps prices high. Food prices are 40 per cent up in the last four years, far more than our European neighbours. It’s a national scandal.

The retail sector has been hit by higher National Insurance, soaring energy prices and a rise in the minimum wage, yet as I write the share prices of Sainsbury’s and Tesco have risen by 28 per cent and 26 per cent respectively over the last year, and profits are £1 billion and £3bn respectively. Given supermarkets are tracking prices, they are all profiteering at the consumer’s expense.

Shopping around is still advantageous. According to consumer magazine Which?, Home Bargains, a privately owned UK company with branches throughout the country, is the cheapest supermarket. Consumers can also benefit from loyalty cards, saver brands and substituting to cheaper meals, like from steak to chicken. Wages are generally still rising above inflation and behaviours for those that benefit change little, hence food inflation keeps rising and supermarkets are raking in the profits.

It’s essential the Government addresses this cartel, otherwise the cost of living crisis, for many, will not go away.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Meaty subject

Scotland may have qualified for the World Cup, but haud oan, the price of mince has gone up 37 per cent. Help ma boab.

Graham M McLeod, Linross, Angus

United kickers

Allow this Arsenal-supporting Sassenach to congratulate Scotland on the team's brilliant win against Denmark. It was a great match to watch and the goals were certainly memorable.

Many of us south of the Border will join a happy Tartan Army supporting Scotland next year. This week's performance augurs well – good luck across the Pond!

Lester May, Camden Town, London

A football thing

During Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday, Keir Starmer, in an attempt to take credit for the English contribution to Scotland’s victory, mentioned that one of the brilliant goals was scored by Kieran Tierney, previously from Arsenal Football Club. Had any of the Scottish MPs known their football they might have highlighted that Arsenal was founded by David Danskin, born in Burntisland Fife in 1863 and their first captain. A Scotsman! Get it up ye!

Andrew W Taylor, Edinburgh

Climate innocents

Like Allan Sutherland, I don't know why UK Energy and Climate Change Minister David Miliband's spending seems to be sacrosanct (Letters, 20 November).

It does not favour our nation in any way at all, but seriously damages our economy, industries and people. With negligible greenhouse gas, including CO2, output – less than 1 per cent of the world's total –the UK need never have participated in the war against climate change.

We could safely opt out now.

Charles Wardrop, Perth

Not so super

Angus councillors and the public have opposed a controversial multi-million-pound “super pylon” project, calling it a “colossal” act of vandalism (your report, 19 November).

Well done to all those involved. For far too long the wishes of the public have been ignored in the name of “saving the planet” although the oil and gas-rich countries are not curbing their output and their customers are still buying these products and other countries are still burning coal to produce far cheaper electricity to drive their economies.

Unfortunately, Angus Council's welcome decision will not be the end of the matter, since the Scottish Government will now make the final decision on the application.

Never in the history of an SNP government has an application for wind turbines, solar farms, battery farms and pylons and the ugly infrastructure been refused.

Still, the day of reckoning will be on 7 May 2026 when a Scottish general election will enable the Scottish voting public to vote out the present long-failed incumbents and elect those who will address and stop this savage destruction of our unique Scottish landscapes.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Cattle trail

I was interested to read your recent article on Trees for Life’s plans (“Rewilding charity wants £3.6m to bring back ‘missing species’ in Scotland” 14 November).

However, describing tauros cattle as a lost native species is misleading. Tauros are not resurrected aurochs but a modern back-bred cross breed, largely derived from Iberian domestic cattle breeds, selected to resemble aurochs in appearance. They are essentially a domestic proxy, not a genuinely wild species that roamed Scotland. Presenting them as “missing” risks confusing public understanding of conservation priorities.

Scotland already has several hardy, ecologically valuable native cattle breeds, such as Highland and Galloway, that are well adapted to our climate and terrain. These breeds can perform the grazing and habitat-shaping functions sought in rewilding, while supporting our rare breed heritage and rural economies.

Introducing a largely Iberian composite seems unnecessary when native breeds can fulfil the same ecological roles without the risks associated with foreign genetic stock. Rewilding should prioritise species and breeds that truly belong here. Scotland’s native cattle offer exactly what is needed, supporting both biodiversity and cultural heritage.

Christopher Price, Kenilworth, Warwickshire

Date with China

I enjoy sending Scottish calendars to my friends in other parts of the UK and abroad. There are some nice ones this year but it’s so disappointing to see very many of them (not all) are printed in China! It takes away the Scottish-ness somehow! Best to read the small print before purchasing.

Mhairi Blair, Greenock, Inverclyde

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