Readers' Letters: Top SNP civil servant wrong to say Scotland isn't broken

Perhaps from his ivory tower it is not, but telling us how the Civil Service will make efficiencies is enough to make you laugh if it wasn’t so serious.

Under the SNP’s guidance, the Civil Service in Scotland has become even more bloated than the Civil Service in the rest of the UK, and that is saying something. I notice in the article, he fails to tell us exactly what is NOT broken, because as an average member of the public, I see little evidence.

The police service is on its knees, as is the fire service; the NHS, despite tons of money being poured into it, is delivering less; local government is starved of funds, leading to ridiculous above-inflation council tax increases to give us even less for more, apart from potholes which are definitely the ultimate “black hole”; education is on its knees with Scotland slipping further and further down league tables, well, at least those we haven’t ducked out of because we’d look so bad; Social Security Scotland is delivering little at great cost – much more than had we paid the DWP to continue to provide the service, but there the “political optics” would look bad and we can’t have that, even if it costs Scots more.

Ah, but public sector reform is “very much on the agenda”. Is it? What has been delivered by way of successful public sector reform in 18 years of SNP government? Don’t hold your breath for an answer because an ambulance will take a long time to arrive. I’m sorry, but if he genuinely believes not everything is broken, perhaps we should find someone else to do the job.

Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothan

Stop vacillating

Pub business rates, mandatory ID cards for work, and now the Hillsborough Law's duty of candour – three more Keir Starmer' U-turns so far in 2026 and we're still in January. In short order, this takes the U-turn tally to a dizzying 13 or 14, depending on who you read.

Estimates just published by The Resolution Foundation indicate the cost of this to the growth of the UK economy to be around £8.2 billion. This estimate seems modest when set against the U-turn on social welfare reforms, for example, which alone was estimated to be worth around £5bn in direct savings to the Treasury.

Beyond the cost, the main casualty of the resulting policy uncertainty, however, is the ongoing damage caused to business confidence, vital for the investment and growth the Chancellor craves. As the negative impact of this becomes ever more apparent, The Resolution Foundation’s cost estimate may well require significant revision upwards.

The challenge for government is clear: this level of vacillation is simply not good enough for a government elected on a ticket to restore stability to the country.

Increasingly, this looks like policy development by trial and error, rather than full and careful evaluation of outputs, outcomes and overall impacts – economic, political and social. Either that, or it’s a case of chronically poor political judgment!

Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns, East, Renfrewshire

Greener land

Donald Trump's unhealthy obsession with Greenland has led him to say “we have to have it, one way or the other”. He sounds awfully like a spoilt child. Some 85 per cent of Americans are against any such invasion.

Who can forget his sidekick J D Vance's farcical visit there, almost a year ago, when he and the Second Lady were totally and embarrassingly, shunned by the Greenlanders?

The Greenlanders have made it abundantly clear that they don't want to be taken over by the US or anybody else. They're even fretting over their connection to Denmark.

The future of Greenland should be in the hands of the Greenlanders, the vast majority of whom would vote for independence. Ideally, this would happen as an independent state, becoming a member of the European Union. The people themselves deserve this at the very least.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Time to talk

I am becoming angry and despondent at the misuse of the Supreme Court’s ruling on gender being used to promote women’s rights, and the triumphalism when a case is “won” (“Swinney continues to sanction awful attack on women’s rights”, 19 January).

There is a lack of concern and humanity in looking at the problems that are arising and as to how they might be solved. In addressing the problem of women who feel uncomfortable in a changing room admitting a trans woman, little mention is made of the fear of humiliation, or worse, for a trans woman sharing a changing room or toilets with male colleagues. Imagine the ridicule possible for a trans woman going into public male toilets or the bullying or worse for a teenager at school.

In a climate where it is becoming acceptable to say trans women or men are not real, fear in the LBTQ community is understandably growing. Compassionate and realistic solutions need to be found, with dialogue, not shouting. Of course, this will cost money, always a deterrent. It should not be so.

Anne Martin, Edinburgh

All together?

Joyce McMillan’s warm and generous piece, “A festival of queer lives, but universal stories” (19 January) on Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Out in the Hills weekend left me with mixed feelings. What might have been a confident LGB event, or a focused T+ one, was pitched as an “LGBTQIA+” event, as if the sexual orientation of LGB people and claimed gender identity were somehow related.

Yet, as the Supreme Court has clarified for Equality Act purposes, sexual orientation concerns attraction on the basis of biological sex, not claimed gender identity. Same-sex attraction has its own history, vulnerabilities and needs; and trans-identifying people have theirs too. When these are lumped together, LGB people are expected to subordinate their interests to contested positions on identity, language and policy – positions that can directly affect their services, safeguarding, and even clarity as to what homosexuality is. That is to the detriment of LGB people, including younger gays and lesbians trying to understand themselves without feeling pressured to subscribe to gender identity claims.

That pressure also recasts LGB people as a constituency expected to be trans “allies”, with dissent sometimes branded as bigotry, when in reality trans-identifying people have no more inherent common cause with LGB people than with straight people.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre receives generous public funding. In future, and to align with the Equality Act, I look forward to Out in the Hills and other such events being inclusive of those who do not subscribe to contested gender identity claims, instead of promoting “queer” politics.

Brian Forsyth, Edinburgh

True sportsmen

Having had the pleasure of travelling to Bath at the weekend for the Bath versus Edinburgh rugby game I was fortunate to be on the same flight home as the Edinburgh team.

Can I say, in this day and age, it was a pleasure to be met with polite, willing conversation and excellent young men representing their sport.

I am over 80, an avid long-time supporter and would like to wish the boys Good luck in the Six Nations.

Ebyth Morton, Edinburgh

Football madness

Some 10,350 people witnessed the shock defeat of Hibs on Saturday but the sheer size of that gate raises awkward questions for the football authorities. Scotland is a small country and, surely, we can ill afford to have clubs, like Dunfermline Ath, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers and St Johnstone outwith the top tier. It was a rare “box office” game, the critics would argue and, yes, Hibs brought 5,000 fans to East End Park.

Significantly, the attendance was greater than the average gate of half the Premiership. These are clubs whose attendances are helpfully skewed each weekend by the travelling support of “The Big Five”.

In contrast, Dunfermline attracted 9,530 for a League 1 match with Falkirk in 2023 and, just recently, 8,447 for Raith Rovers.

A number of football correspondents kindly agreed the Pars would grace the top tier but the Premiership cartel has erected an obstacle course (the play-offs) designed to protect the second bottom Premiership club. Livingston last year succeeded. Few do.

The reality is the dead hand of the provincial Premiership clubs has stymied any prospect of league reconstruction for a quarter of a century. The SPFL has a turnover approaching £50m; 80 per cent, indefensibly, is given to the top tier, leaving three divisions frankly getting by on breadcrumbs.

Add to that the fact those clubs not involved in Europe get the UEFA Solidarity payment.

However, those clubs involved in the endurance test of Champions/Europa /Conference League now suffer from fixture congestion and would benefit considerably from a 30-game league season.

That may increasingly concentrate minds. Financial restructuring might minimise clubs entering administration, and tackle the major problem that provincial Premiership clubs are engaged in blatant self-preservation, as they are unwilling to give up their Old Firm games and be turkeys voting for Christmas. The Scottish game is the victim.

John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife

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