Readers' Letters: Swinney will have to do better in next Parliament

A recent Survation poll shows 60 per cent want to “remain” in the Union and only one in 12 see independence as a top three issue. Swinney is losing the independence argument and has allegedly failed to meet his party manifesto on income tax increases. With the SNP well clear in polls they may come close to a majority but tactical constituency voting can prevent that. Polling also confirms discontent over the SNP’s record – the NHS and public services are on their knees, the cost of living crisis remains concerning and the deficit is £26 billion, yet Swinney wants £500 million more spent on childcare. An unaffordable bribe? Polling at 35 per cent, the SNP remain over ten points behind their 2021 election vote share. Given historically that share has reflected seat share at Holyrood, the SNP will likely need the support of both the Greens and the Lib Dems at some level. The latter recently secured £300m in the Scottish government budget for the care sector, hospitality and colleges.

More deals will be required, which is what the parliamentary system was designed for.

As political scientist Sir John Curtice argues, for parties winning is “only the beginning of the job for securing public support for the policies they wish to implement”. Swinney will need to work much harder in the next parliament.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Axe-grinding

I could not have put it better than Scotland on Sunday (15 March). The editorial finishes with the statement “some would argue that while the SNP are on the side of independence, that’s a very different thing to being truly on Scotland’s side – as demonstrated, on a regular basis, by our dilapidated and hard-pressed public services”. Then Euan McColm hits the nail squarely on the head with his opening statement regarding Keith Brown, deputy leader of the SNP, when he states “first, take a perfectly mundane situation then douse it with equal parts of bullshit and rage”.

These two statements sum up 20 years of zero achievement by the SNP and their axe-grinding nonsense regarding interactions with the UK government. What we in fact get from the SNP is more voter bribery with promises of £10,000 for first-time buyers and chucking £500m for childcare up to the age of 12.

Then there is the pontificating on world affairs, Iran being the latest. A jumped-up councillor should stick to the day job of getting the bins emptied, sorting the potholes, ensuring that councils are not left bankrupt due to endless centralisation of power and finance and that they stop throwing large sums of money to unions whenever strikes are threatened.

It is utterly unbelievable that recent surveys suggest 60 per cent plus of the Scottish voting public will not vote for the SNP, yet they will probably still form the next government. As a nation we have always prided ourselves on being leaders in education, industry and innovation. If the above happens we can add to that "the most delusional population in history” – a wonderful epitaph for our country as it spins in its final death throes.

David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Remember Barnett

“A better future away from Westminster,” claims John Swinney, on another misguided flight of fancy. The First Minister has conveniently overlooked the £41 billion subsidy Scotland currently receives annually from much maligned Westminster. It is highly unlikely Scotland could survive outwith the UK, the Barnett formula being the most common basis for fiscal calculations.

It is a mystery as to how the SNP government has survived 19 years. What is even more of a mystery is why so many otherwise sane Scots have voted for this seriously underperforming collection of politicians.

Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent

Green fantasy

In its editorial The Scotsman correctly says “Scotland cannot afford an unjust transition” (14 March). What this is in effect saying is that the demise of oil and gas and coal should have been replaced by wind turbines and solar panels. A report states that almost 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the oil and gas industry will be lost every month, yes month, between now and 2030 unless there is a change of direction.

With the current turmoil and uncertainty in the world this change of direction needs to be now. We need to harvest the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields and open shale gas fields as quickly as possible and never again be reliant on unreliable foreign sources.

The jobs lost in the UK will never be replaced by the same number of renewable jobs in the UK. The notion of UK turbine and solar panels being manufactured in the UK with British materials and UK workers was a green dream. Instead the vast majority of wind turbines are manufactured in China, using steel mostly churned out in coal-fired furnaces. China produces over 80 per cent of the world's solar panels.

In the last 12 months unreliable wind and solar could only provide 41.1 per cent of UK electricity so the UK had to rely on “nasty” gas, nuclear, biomass and imports to keep the lights on. Meanwhile the rest of the world explores for and harvests fossil fuels, including coal, to protect and grow their economies.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Airport madness

Having bought Prestwick airport the SNP government now want to curtail its operations. US air forces have long used Prestwick as a staging post. To curtail this activity will reduce revenues from landing and handling charges, not to mention fuel revenues. Easy if government owned, but who pays?

Mike Salter, Banchory, Aberdeen

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