Readers' Lettters: Swinney more interested in independence than drug deaths

The previous day, Mr Swinney had the nerve to pretend his party had the wherewithal to create an independent state. The public expect and pay handsomely for politicians to deliver. This is not what they had in mind.

The SNP is no longer fit to govern Scotland. At the very least, Mr Swinney ought to resign as he knew what these figures were before he launched his latest bid to break up the UK. This scandal obviously rates less attention than his pet project. His leadership is untenable.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Too difficult

Once again Scotland’s recorded death totals as a consequence of illicit drugs is the highest in Europe. Despite the SNP government repeatedly stating its concern, a further increase of 11 per cent demonstrates how ineffective their performance has been over many years.

Instead of conducting a grandstanding debate on their favourite subject of independence, they would do better to focus on issues for which they do have responsibility and demonstrate that they are fit to govern. Sadly, I fear the drugs issue will remain in the “too difficult” box.

Derek Stevenson, Edinburgh

Bigger problem

The UK is “Europe’s drug-deaths capital”. This is the reality that much of the media wishes to hide by highlighting the particularly bad situation, which, in spite of a wide range of positive local efforts, has persisted through decades in Scotland.

Misleading charts/tables have been published showing Scotland at the top of a harrowing list of deaths per million with Estonia second (112-2024) and Ireland third (78-2022), but even figures reduced as “age-adjusted drug poisoning deaths” would show Wales second (140-2024), Northern Ireland third (135-2024) and England fifth (91-2024). Clearly the UK is sadly at the top of the depressing list of European countries and it is clear that UK drugs policy is failing people across these islands.

The Westminster government controls drugs policy for the United Kingdom, including Scotland, but it appears that the media would rather divert attention to Scotland’s problems than seriously expose the problems experienced in deprived areas of all UK cities and the pervasive insidious influence of England’s County Lines gangs, or foster objective debate on legalising the use of “soft drugs” such as cannabis.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Blame game

Concerning the recent drug death figures for Scotland, Lorna Slater of the Greens said on TV that the problem cannot be fixed when overall drug policy is reserved to London, implying it is “Westminster's fault”.

Two points on this. Firstly, if drug policy is UK-wide, why does Scotland have the worst figures? Secondly, surely drug-related matters cover health, policing, education, which are all devolved – and who has been in charge these past 20 years?

William Ballantine, Bo’ness, West Lothian

Islands vision

The news that the Scottish government has provided start-up funding for the Shetland tunnel project (your report, 24 September) is great for the Northern Isles and could unlock huge potential for economic growth and employment. One only needs to look at the Faroes as an example.

Hopefully the management of the project is left in the hands of Shetland Council and the Scottish government stays away from any direct involvement.

The track record of the current administration in handling large capital projects is abysmal and could ruin a huge economic opportunity.

DG McIntyre, Edinburgh

Stubborn logic

I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly stupid or stubborn individual who cannot or will not see the other person’s point of view, but I confess I cannot understand SNP voters.

We have a government that claims success in reducing the performance gap when well-off students’ performance slumps more than poorer pupils. A government that tells an interviewer “we’re making progress” when drug deaths increase by 11 per cent. A government that says there is a huge demand for another referendum when they receive 788,000 votes from an electorate of 4.3 million. A government that presides over record homelessness.

To me, they appear incompetent, secretive and dishonest. What am I missing?

Graham M McLeod, Muirs, Perth and Kinross

Redundant policy

It was interesting to read Mundo Fraser’s article regarding the proposed reduction in the public sector headcount with the no redundancy policy still in place (Scotsman, 23 September). If only the government of the day used the funds it had as if it was its own money then we wouldn’t have this wastage. What private sector firm worth its salt would have such a policy?

Time to ditch it and start treating our money with respect taxpayers deserve.

Jeff Lewis, Edinburgh

Chagos injustice

President Trump made it plain to Andy Burnham, very publicly, that to any rational person, the “deal” that the government made with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands is dreadful. Wes Streeting has now admitted that the deal is now dead, as has Mr Burnham.

Any new Chagos deal should be simple. We own the islands and will continue to do so. The US will continue to use the islands as a military base and we should allow the Chagossian people back to their islands to live as the British citizens they wish to remain.

The formula is that, if the people of British Overseas Territories wish to remain British, the UK will defend their right to remain so. That principle must apply to the Chagos Islands and it is a blatant injustice to throw them out of their own land. Such an injustice has no place in the world of 2026.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Carney doctrine

Since the days when the UK voted for Brexit, our world has become a much more dangerous place. If Canada became an associate EU member that has to be a good thing.

Bearing in mind that Canada is already an essential member of the 52-nations strong Commonwealth, a Carney-led Canada can only be an asset to any organisation it joins. An organisation even the ridiculous Trump cannot barge into.

Canadian PM Mark Carney is a rarity in world politics today: a decent, honest, man, having great integrity; and a former governor of the Bank of England.

Canada has been a staunch ally of Britain through two World Wars and remains so today.

Canada, like the UK, is a member of Nato, an organisation which has been traditionally led by US presidents who shared most of Carney’s values.

Arrogant, ignorant, egotistical, Donald Trump, still the rabble-rouser whose supporters invaded the US Capitol Building, causing five deaths, has indicated support for an Argentinian takeover of the Falklands, ignoring the fact that the residents of this British Overseas Territory want to remain under British protection. He’s also said he’d “love” to see a united Ireland.

What I and millions like me would “love” to see, is the most corrupt President in US history, locked up in a state penitentiary, where he would have been had he not been re-elected president.

Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent

Tattoo tax

I think I may have solved the UKs financial crisis. On 22 Septmeber The Scotsman printed a picture of cricketer Brydon Carse, who plays for Durham. It showed he had an armful of tattoos.

Every man and woman seems to have multiple tattoos all over their bodies and these are not cheap. Foreigners who come to play for football clubs in the UK for eye-watering sums of money are also covered in tattoos.

What about introducing a tattoo tax to be levied on all new tattoos and using it to fill the black holes in our failing economy?

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Ask the Finns

It is becoming increasingly painful to hear and read about the steady decline of the once proud Scottish educational tradition. Only today I learned of an Edinburgh secondary school where pupils were advised to avoid the toilets! And classes were failing tests because their teacher’s foreign accent was so strong as to make her subject almost unintelligible.

Finland does things so much better. Almost every teacher has two degrees: the conventional Bachelor one, followed by a one specialising in pedagogy.

Following a year’s preparation, formal schooling begins at the age of seven. Every pupil is then exposed to a minimum of three languages until 16.

As a result, many shop assistants wear a name badge on which are the flags of the languages in which he or she is competent to serve customers. Finland regularly tops the list of the world’s most happy countries.

Please invite some Finns to sort out our schooling. And soon!

Tim Flinn. Edinburgh

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