Readers' letters: Swinney should hang his head in shame over Pisa results

The Pisa shows scores for Scottish pupils in mathematics have fallen over the last seven years and scores for reading have also declined (your report, 9 September).

The least able pupils in England now have higher scores than the least able pupils in Scotland, and students from the 25 per cent most affluent homes in Scotland also lag behind their English counterparts.

In 2014, Nicola Sturgeon asked to be judged on progress in education; Well, it’s an F minus, and just like every other soundbite or target from the SNP, it has not been met, been cancelled, or reset.

In response to the Pisa results, a Scottish government spokesperson said that the gap between poorer pupils and better off pupils was closing. That would be an achievement if the top pupils were getting better, but if both are getting worse, then it is a race to the bottom and nothing to be proud of.

John Swinney has been in the SNP government for all but one of the last 20 years of decline. He cannot be allowed to escape the consequences of the SNP’s destruction of the once proud Scottish education system.

I wonder sometimes if the SNP is happy with the decline so that there is no intelligent challenge to its disastrous polices.

Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothian

Amazing disgrace

The latest PISA education figures show that Scotland has dropped from 12th in the world in 2000 to 28th in 2025.

The reaction from Secretary for Education Mairi McAllan: “The results show real strengths in Scottish education.” What an absolute SNP disgrace.

Jim Houston, Edinburgh

Burnham blunders

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made a dangerous move by introducing sanctions against Israel (your report, 9 September). Is this actually being done to stop Labour losing more votes to the Greens?

This is a relevant question because Israel goes to the polls very soon and it is entirely possible a new government will be elected which will rein in the settler activity as well as having a fresh look at the Palestinian issue. Why is Burnham not waiting for the democratic will of the Israelis to be heard? It looks very like Labour is playing very risky politics as punishing Israel comes with consequences, starting with the reaction of the United States.

Labour is obsessed with all the wrong issues. The Portsmouth protests ought to have been yet another wake-up call. The disquiet in the bond markets is another. Just how many does it need and just how long will Labour be able to resist the escalating clamour for a new general election?

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Step up sanctions

The normal adult response when someone you share a friendly relationship with offers you criticism when you step out of line is to treat what they say with due respect and to reconsider the action that led to the criticism. It is not appropriate to respond with threats and retaliation.

It is clear from the response to Ed Miliband’s very limited action in response to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank that no heed has been given to his criticism. I find that unsurprising given former Prime Minister Starmer’s unequivocal support for Israeli crimes against its neighbours, even going beyond words to provide aid for the slaughter in Gaza. Our government effectively gave Israel a licence to do as they like so why would they not react badly to Milliband this week?

As I see it, Milliband and Burnham have two courses of action open to them. They can backtrack, apologise to Israel for this week’s change in the relationship and reinstate the unequivocal support that was backed by Starmer or they can step up their sanctions and act in support of international law.

We will soon see the true character of Mr Milliband and his boss, Burnham king-in-the-north-of-the-very-far-south. However, to paraphrase George RR Martin further, the True North remembers. Given that they were both in the Blair government and were complicit in the illegal wars in the Middle East Im pretty sure that decent people will not like what they see.

Ni Holmes, St Andrews, Fife

Cancer crisis

MSPs are right to call the 15 per cent increase in cancer incidence rates annually over the past decade a “ticking timebomb” (Scotsman, 19 August).

The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), which represents doctors responsible for diagnosing and treating cancer, has been warning about our ability to manage this rising incidence for years. More worrying still, outcomes for Scottish patients continue to lag behind the rest of the UK and Europe.

It is positive that the government has now committed to rolling out lung cancer screening to help catch cancer earlier. However, Scotland simply does not have enough doctors to detect, diagnose and treat the growing number of people with cancer quickly enough – and this is having tragic consequences.

According to the RCR’s 2025 workforce census, six in ten radiology and cancer leaders in Scotland have seen patients’ conditions worsen as a direct result of staff shortages. Patients at every Scottish cancer centre have had their treatment delayed because of staff shortages. This is extremely concerning, as every month’s delay to starting cancer treatment can increase the risk of death by around 10 per cent.

The government is spending vast amounts of money on short-term solutions instead of hiring the doctors we need. Scotland has 149 fewer radiologists than we need just to meet current demand for diagnostics. Yet in 2025, Scotland spent a record £21 million on temporary solutions like outsourcing and overtime to fill the radiology workforce gap – enough to pay 179 radiology consultant salaries.

The government must urgently create more permanent jobs for radiologists and cancer doctors, and train enough new doctors to meet the rising demand for cancer care.

Dr Judith Anderson, Chair of the Royal College of Radiologists' Scottish Standing Committee, Edinburgh

Cone cavalcades

Currently Scotland’s nine overseas offices cost £7.2 million a year and employ 47 staff, so theoretically John Swinney's plan to increase that number to 40 will need about 200 people and cost around £30m.

That's a lot of money given the rumoured £1.5bn in spending cuts so I've got an idea for a more headline-grabbing, cost-effective campaign to publicise us abroad.

Why not leverage the Tartan Army’s headline and goodwill-grabbing World Cup exploits and organise pop-up marches, led by External Affairs Minister Stephen Gethins joined occasionally, for big countries like England, by John Swinney, all wearing Scottish-manufactured traffic cones atop their Braveheart outfits with MSP Holly “Unesco Rolls” Bruce handing out iconic delicacies such as Tunnock’s tea cakes and square sausage on rolls. Comparable delegations like New York Tartan Week cost around £50,000 so for that £30m you could fund roughly 600 “Cone Cavalcades” and exponentially boost our exports.

Or am I missing something?

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Airport failings

Jill Stephenson (Letters, 8 September) expressed precisely what I had thought of writing about Edinburgh Airport last week as we have too often experienced the delays, lack of escalators, faulty lifts etc.

When both departing and returning this year we had to wait over an hour for the (only?) bus to arrive.

It would appear that the service providers have not invested enough in equipment or people. Not the airport management’s concern it would seem?

The “success” of our capital city's airport and the management bonuses would appear to be purely financial: i.e. invest in duty free and shop rentals.

Derek Sharp, Edinburgh

Bigger problem

It is difficult to argue with Jill Stephenson’s comments deploring the state of Edinburgh Airport and the seeming “complete lack of consideration of passengers (customers)”.

The problems, though, extend beyond the patchwork airport itself with approach roads a disgrace and Scotland-wide transport integration effectively non-existent because there has been no seriously significant national transportation infrastructure investment. While London and the South East have benefitted from enormous UK government investment in recent decades, and it appears that Heathrow may have a third runway by 2035, Scotland will likely remain a hodgepodge of public transport services which, even if streamlined for ticket purchases, will increasingly fail to meet customer expectations as more band-aids are applied.

Twenty-seven years ago (29 November, 1999) The Scotsman published a letter from me arguing for better and more integrated transportation infrastructure for Scotland and the construction of a “top-class international airport” between Edinburgh and Glasgow “with high-speed rail links to all of Scotland’s cities”. Given the slow progress in the interim and UK government investment focus on the “south”, it appears unlikely this vision will be realised before Scotland regains its independence and perhaps has access to major EU funding.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

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