10 years to make indy the settled will? Not a hope

The Herald Scotland

4 days ago

The current administration has been let off the hook for far too many years through the absence of robust, effective and dynamic opposition. The result of this has led to unimaginative, lazy policy-making and the highest taxation levels in the UK to no visible benefit of anyone. The most vehement and hard-hitting critics of the SNP have come from within its own ranks, when even their long-held allegiances weren't enough to quell their outrage at their party's management and policies.
There is no spark or dynamism from any quarter of Scottish politics. Scottish ministers are only rarely seen in public except to trot out to apologise profusely for some failure or another.
With a predicted high number of established, long-serving MSPs standing down at the next election, along will come a raft of untried, untested candidates lacking in political experience to take their places. The current batch of [[SNP]] MPs is largely anonymous and the much-lauded 'newbies' (for example, Neil Gray, Màiri McAllan and even Kate Forbes) have not exactly set the heather on fire, and many of the current ministers will not be missed.
So in answer to the original question posed by Andy Maciver, I would say the likelihood of 10 years being long enough for independence to become the settled will under the SNP, is as unlikely as the Arran ferries fiasco being resolved in a similar timeframe. But we can but live in hope…
Colin Allison, Blairgowrie.
Read more letters
• I read with some interest Andy Maciver's article today. I would call it part two, his part 1 being last Friday ("Move over, Labour and Tories: there's room for a new party", The Herald, July 11). Both articles are excellent, show good insight and are worth a read.
The original was in relation to Labour's failed attempt at effective welfare reform. Mr Maciver's opinion seems to be that without significant welfare reform the current financial position within the country is not sustainable. I would agree with that.
This week's article provides an independence slant to the argument in that he sees opportunity for the SNP to make political capital with this. He unfortunately does not offer any suggestion as to what it may do.
He also conveniently forgets that the "welfare class" (Mr Maciver's term) provides much core support to the SNP and that the SNP has already committed to increasing welfare spending. Also the the middle third of electorate he describes as " they probably work" and are open to the independence argument, are currently paying more tax than anywhere else in the UK.
Maybe if next week he is to provide a part 3 he could advise how the SNP could ditch these two flagship policies and still hang onto their vote.
Kenny Watson, Renfrew.
Romanticising independence
Ruth Marr (Letters, July 17) claims that "many of our European friends and neighbours would welcome an independent Scotland into the EU".
I'll bet they would, because we'd be net contributors as the UK always was, pre-Brexit to the tune of some £9 billion annually (equivalent to roughly £160 from every adult). Indeed the per capita sum would be a lot more, since by then the ultimate basket-case Ukraine would have been admitted.
As for "friends and neighbours", it romanticises what upon independence would have to be a sober calculation, at a referendum, of national and personal advantage.
George Morton, Rosyth.
Let's end the secrecy
Who was the member of the Tory government who decided that a super-injunction should be put in place to make sure that neither the Members of Parliament nor the general public should be aware that this cover-up over the release of the list of Afghans eligible for a safe refuge in the UK after helping out our British forces there to maintain law and order ("Tory ex-ministers defend record as pressure mounts after Afghan data leak", The Herald, July 18)?
Rule by super-injunction is hardly the way to run a democracy. It amounts to keeping people totally in the dark, costing the country large amounts of money and threatening the freedom of anyone who, privy to that knowledge, wanted to be a whistleblower on that very subject.
We surely cannot be going down the route favoured by autocracies which revel in secrecy and intimidation buttressed by agencies specialising in informers to keep the public both passive and compliant.
This situation must be thoroughly explored and the persons responsible for initiating that course of action brought to book for a strategy that brings democracies into even more disrepute than they already deserve.
Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.
• The word scandal is overused, but recent revelations about thousands of Afghans being moved to the UK without any public disclosure let alone debate is scandalous.
The Government ought not to be conducting large-scale immigration in secret. It also ought not to be spending taxpayers' money to gag the press from covering a story that is undoubtedly in the public interest to know about. This attack on the free press is both unprecedented and utterly unjustifiable.
We already have far more immigrants from cultures vastly different to our own than we can or should support. Afghanistan is a backward Islamic society with a strong tendency to violence and very different conception of society to our own, a lesson we learned on our misadventures there from the 19th century onwards. Secretly airlifting thousands of Afghans to live here at our expense and purposefully hiding that fact is an outrageous attack on the fabric of our society and democracy by those supposed to lead it.
Christopher Ruane, Lanark.
Give locals a say on wind farms
Most renewable energy is generated in Scotland and zonal pricing (which the UK Government has just rejected) would have lowered prices. But this is only part of the problem in the privatised energy industry. For example, the price of (cheaper) electricity is also tied to the price of (expensive fossil fuel) gas. Profits move out of the country.
The devolved Scottish Government does not control energy but does control planning. The planning permission is in a mess; it doesn't look at the numbers of wind farms in one area nor the grid and infrastructure problems. Applications for pylons and big wind farms are decided centrally, by ECU ([[Scottish Government]]'s Energy Consents Unit). Just now SSEN Transmission has a massive application for a project at a tiny hamlet at Fanellan. It will involve a 66-acre substation on 800 acres of farmland( 600 football pitches in size).
Local people need a meaningful say on what happens in their backyard and the countryside. In the Highlands, Aberdeenshire and elsewhere where wind turbines are, energy goes elsewhere – mainly to England (34% in 2023). This is likely to go up hugely with the construction of the super connector from Peterhead to Yorkshire. Now 53 community councils have asked for a halt of development and for real local involvement and an energy strategy to benefit the Highland Council and [[Scottish Government]].
Professor Brett Christophers who studies renewables, suggests that the state should play a bigger role: "For me [public ownership] is [the answer]. I think the UK is the standout case, not just in electricity but in water too, for public ownership of these assets.'
'In almost every conceivable regard, privatisation has been a bit of a disaster."
Scotland needs an independent government implementing a wellbeing economy.
Pol Yates, Edinburgh.
Is the planning system for wind farms fit for purpose? (Image: PA)
Frustration with ScotRail
I suggest there should be an inquiry into [[Scottish Government]]-run ScotRail's fitness for purpose. Twice this week there have been major disruptions due to problems with the overhead line equipment. Today, I wanted to go from Bearsden to Helensburgh. I checked before making my journey (as we are advised to do) and found there were limited services from Anniesland to Dumbarton Central and from Dumbarton Central to [[Helensburgh]] Central. I took the bus to Anniesland, where the majority of trains were shown as cancelled with some running. The 14:55 service was shown as "on time" until 14:57 when it was cancelled. The 15:26 was shown as "on time" until 15:28 when it was cancelled. Other passengers on the platform shared my frustration.
It seems we have a sophisticated computer-driven passenger information system that is not fit for purpose when serious disruption occurs. No explanation was offered by any person. Automated messages saying "Please listen for further announcements" are clearly inadequate for anyone trying to make a decision about travel options. I cannot believe it is not possible to make an "all stations" announcement. What would ScotRail do in a true emergency where there was no automated "script" available?
The irony is that I was going to Helensburgh to pick up my car from the garage.
Scott Simpson, Bearsden.
Airport questions
Your article detailing the increase in "drop-off" charges at UK airports ("Most UK airports raise drop-off fees while busy EU hubs still don't charge", The Herald, July 17) made interesting reading, particularly the reasoning for the increases as provided by Karen Dee, chief executive of Airports UK.
I am sure the multitude of air travellers who avail themselves of this facility must wonder: do the taxi drivers or bus companies who also use this facility pay some form of charge?
Perhaps the chief executive might like to inform the air traveller, and the general public of the nature and detail of the mandate the various airport owners have received from government and local authorities.
Mike Dooley, Ayr.
Hey, what about me?
The result of Peter Martin's diligent search for a gender-neutral personal pronoun (Letters, July 19) would, he admits, lead to yet more disputation.
My bete noire is hearing that John and Jean have invited Joan and I to dinner. The use of "I" instead of " me" in this context pervades all walks of life, including those whose job it is to speak publicly on a regular basis. My raising the subject at my golf club led to a heated argument, not normal in that environment.
I used to think that only posh people made this mistake and that I might be considered vulgar in declaring that Jim had driven Jack and me into town.
David Miller, Milngavie.