Readers’ letters: Andy Burnham’s No 10 of the North is mere propaganda

What this propaganda exercise does provide is an insight to the mind of the person who was elected by just short of 25,000 voters. Gone are past thoughts on constitutional change and federalism, as well as principles around democracy and engaging with the people. Not only did the advocate of further devolution refuse to discuss the transfer of power for the Scottish parliament to conduct a constitutional referendum, PM Burnham has shunned journalists, especially in Scotland where all four visiting UK government ministers refused to talk to the Scottish media.

How can PM Burnham be taken seriously, when, like his predecessor, he apparently wants ten years to implement the “radical change” that he seems to believe is necessary to fix “broken Britain” yet refuses even to discuss the federalism he previously indicated was the solution? Surely Andy Burnham’s words of 2020 that “the UK must embrace fundamental constitutional change to survive” indicate that if he is prepared to immediately dismiss discussions around independence for the nations of Britain’s islands then he must, at the very least, begin discussions on his vision, if he has one, for “a more federal form of government”.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Andy’s circus

Andy Burnham’s first week in office makes me think of Barnum’s Circus. ‘There is a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute’ is one of the numbers in the musical Barnum and, given the small sweets offered as tasters by Burnham this past week, it’s hard not to get the tune out of my head.

Gullible voters may think ‘I Like Your Style’ but I fear it won’t be long before we wish again for the dull days of Keir Starmer. ‘Join the Circus’ seemed to be the mantra of Burnham with his No 10 North but this prime example of Manchesterism is surely a completely unnecessary, performative act of virtue signalling. It probably won’t add to efficiency and it certain costs money at a time when much more important things are in need of attention and larger budgets.

To copy absurd EU practice, with its dual homes in Brussels and Strasbourg, is hardly sound. To push No 10 North in week one of his premiership is plain daft.

With his trivial giveaways, I fear that Burnham is telling voters that he likes playing with the toys in his new cupboard but does not really understand how the levers and buttons work or where the batteries are inserted.

It’s the summer holidays. The Prime Minister should slow down on domestic issues, stop showing off and look and learn – and think. He should certainly take action very soon on much more important matters such as defence, the Chagos Islands and illegal immigration.

Lester May, Camden Town, London

Truss 2.0

As Prime Minister Burnham delivers several “unfunded” cuts, does my memory serve me correctly in thinking that the last PM who began office in a similar fashion was a certain Liz Truss?

Richard Allison, Edinburgh

Sporting turn-off

I am sure I am not the only person who is disappointed with the television coverage given to this year’s Commonwealth Games. We have had hours of football, Tour De France, cricket and Grand Prix etc. Surely an hour at 10pm of the highlights of the day is poor coverage of an event that only happens once every four years.The sportsmen and women deserve better.

Ruth Arthur, Peterculter, Aberdeen

Unfriendly Games

After many years of enjoying supporting our athletes at the Commonwealth Games and latterly only on TV, I had been looking forward to watching the (curtailed) 2026 Games.

However I was sad to find that wasn’t going to be possible this year as BBC and ITV were not screening any of this event, which our athletes have been training so hard to compete in. A home Games which we shall only manage to read about. Curtailed in more ways than having no marathon and other events.

M Langdon, Edinburgh

Military aid

There are two disturbing conclusions to be drawn from the response to the fire in the Cairngorms that has threatened life and property. The first is the revelation that our armed forces have no helicopters or aircraft available which are capable of aerial firefighting (your report, 27 July), the one asset that is useful and effective, and that there is no alternative source of this capacity as is common in France and Spain.

The second is that when military help for the community, an accepted role of the armed forces, is required, the responsible administration has no power to obtain it save through Whitehall.

We now have a political barney about an essential facility which, as it turns out, does not seem to exist.

James Scott, Edinburgh

Stopping fires

You are absolutely right to say Scotland must plan for more wildfires (editorial, July 27). And so is Hector Maclean (Letters, same date) when he says wildfires must be stopped before they get out of control. If summers in Scotland are going to be dry, sunny and hot every year – and I hope they will be – the conditions for fires to spread rapidly will be omnipresent because Scotland is a wind-blown country. What is required is surveillance of likely affected areas in an organised manner from April to September by firewatchers and also by the public.

Instead of fire towers we could have webcams on poles covering a wide area and open to public view similar to the Nevis Range webcam. These could switch to infra-red at night to seek heat.

As fires are sometimes started maliciously I’m afraid it will be necessary to make forest and other areas out of bounds to the public during spells of high fire danger. Scotland’s Fire and Rescue Service needs more resources, but in fact is closing fire stations across the country and on the islands – including at Nethy Bridge, Crianlarich, and on Arran. Not good enough.

The military must be ready to play their part with aerial support. Water bombing would provide training too. Some of the billions committed to Ukraine could be spent instead in the UK in this endeavour.

William Loneskie, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Wind farm woe

Aileen Jackson (Letters, 27 July) is right to be concerned about the proposed re-powering of Whitelee Wind Farm.

Since 2010 Whitelee has received more than £165 million in constraints payments. In the first six months of this year alone it received almost £2.9m for not producing power. In two years (2015 and 2020) it received well over £20m per annum for doing nothing.

Whitelee’s Spanish owners certainly know how to milk the system. Their website is coy about funding, but the existing wind farm benefits from subsidies under the Renewables Obligation scheme.

They also have a Contract for Difference (CfD) with a strike price of £188.56 per MWh (which is way above the average price of electricity) for Whitelee's 7MW “green” hydrogen facility.

They will almost certainly seek a 20-year contract with state-guaranteed funding under the CfD scheme for the proposed “re-powering” of the site. The latest allocation round (AR8) under the CfD scheme offers onshore wind a guaranteed strike price of £92 per MWh (in 2024 prices). Future rounds will almost certainly offer higher strike prices.

And of course new bigger turbines will still be constrained – paid to turn off – on a regular basis. Heads they win, tails we lose.

Mark Hodgson, Cumbria

Laffer curve

Dan Neidle a tax policy expert who was part of the Scottish government’s recently axed tax advisory group, said the government’s decision to raise the top rate of tax to 48p in the pound had actually reduced tax revenue by about £22 million. The reduction is likely to have been due to people taking legitimate action to avoid paying the higher taxes, such as reducing hours, increasing pension contributions or even moving just across the Border.

This phenomenon, well understood by economists, is called the Laffer curve, which shows that increasing taxes beyond a certain point, results in a reduction of tax revenue. The objective should not be to increase tax rates, but to increase tax revenue and the best way to do that is to grow the economy and as a consequence increase the tax take to help those in genuine need.

Let us hope that both the SNP government and the newly anointed Andy Burnham read about the Laffer curve and learn from it. They might understand that lowering tax rates on individuals and businesses actually results in higher revenue in years to come. After decades of failure, surely it is time to try something other than constantly increasing taxes?

I live in hope.

Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothian

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