Scotsman Letters: It's ridiculous to claim Sturgeon was champion of women

His view is that those who "own property, have well-paid jobs, remain generally in good health… shun independence”, that “those who financially backed Brexit… supported the constitutional status quo”, and that they prevented Scotland from being “a more prosperous country… with closer ties with the EU”. This misguided whingeing is the standard fare of thwarted nationalists. Many who voted No in 2014 opposed Brexit. Scots would be a lot poorer outside the UK than they are inside it.

The one achievement Mr Grodynski attributes to Ms Sturgeon is completely misconceived. Individual women may have been “advanced” in a “gender-balanced cabinet” and other promoted posts. But women and girls as a sex were traduced by being told to accept in their safe spaces – loos, changing rooms, rape crisis centres and in sports, men who claim to be women. The schoolgirls who try everything to avoid using “gender neutral” loos at school do not feel that their interests have been advanced. Women who seek advice or treatment from a biological woman are not guaranteed to have one. Ms Sturgeon’s reign, and its legacy, have damaged the dignity, privacy and safety of half of our population. Isn’t that “divisive”?

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Susan Dalgety’s churlish article on Scotland’s most progressive first minister, who did more for women and children than any of her predecessors, omits several facts (Perspective, 15 March).

Gender self ID is in place in Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Malta without all the hysteria and misinformation surrounding Scotland’s Gender Recognition Act.

Section 29 of the Scotland Act ensures that any Act passed by the Scottish Parliament is not law to the extent it is incompatible with any ECHR rights covered by the 1998 Human Rights Act as it would be outside the legislative competence granted to the Scottish Parliament by the Scotland Act. Scottish courts have the power to “strike down” any Act or provision of Scots law which is found to be outside the competence of the Scottish Parliament.

It is also important to note that the GRA was supported and passed by a majority of MSPs from SNP, Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens, plus even one Tory MSP. In 2023 Richard Leonard stated that Scottish Labour's position on this was clear: “We support self ID for trans people and oppose the UK government's attempt to block the necessary reform we voted for at Holyrood.”

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

Net Zero benefit

The vast majority of alternative energy investment in Scotland is ScotGov financed but undertaken by non-Scottish companies, mainly from low tax jurisdictions, such as Eire. We don’t manufacture alternative energy equipment. It’s imported. We do get some limited enabling and construction jobs, that don’t last, and a tiny amount of ongoing maintenance work.

The inward investment companies sell their electricity to the National Grid. Through double tax agreements their profits are “booked” in another country. Scotland gets absolutely nothing from allowing these companies to trade here. Nothing. No share of profit. No retained earnings to invest in our communities. No tax. No significant employment. No cheap power. Nothing.

Oh, wait a minute, we can say we’re trying to get to “Net Zero”. So what! China and India are building four coal-fired power stations a week. Thungela are mining billions of tonnes of coal in Africa. Do you not think that affects our ‘Net Zero’?

Have you spotted how small Scotland is? Net Zero is a hugely costly soundbite, a PR exercise by ScotGov. We’d be far better putting the billions of pounds into energy-efficient homes that directly benefit Scots people through vastly reduced energy consumption.

Our politicians must grow up, get better educated and stop throwing our hard-earned money, our precious inheritance, away to non-Scottish business on something that makes “Net Zero” difference to us. Support Scottish business. They need it way more!

Scotland is the most dependent country in Europe and that’s down to ScotGov not anyone else. How ironic!

Ron Smith, Dundee

Change needed

Scotland are consistently the fourth of the “four great teams in the Six Nations” (Editorial, 15 March). As Rugby Correspondent Graham Bean states, Scotland “have never finished higher than third in the Six Nations” and finished fourth in five of the last six years.

With coach Gregor Townsend having lost more games than he has won in the tournament it’s time to appoint Glasgow coach Franco Smith, who took Glasgow to the URC championship last year. Arguably that was the greatest achievement of any Scottish rugby team given that a Scottish club dominated by Scots players finished ahead of the best Ireland and South Africa has to offer. Townsend has struggled to coach Scotland to victories over higher-ranked teams, most notably South Africa and Ireland in the World Cup, failing to beat the latter in the last ten occasions, yet by winning the URC Glasgow topped a Leinster team providing the vast majority of Ireland’s players.

Scotland, with two pro teams, is a tiny rugby nation punching well above its weight but to achieve international success requires a world class coach bringing more physicality to the forwards. Smith must be persuaded to choose Scotland over Wales. The Under-20s losing by 40 points to 45 to champions France should give Smith and Scots fans hope.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

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