The public has the right to an inquiry into the ferries fiasco

The Herald Scotland

02-05-2025

Some four years ago the then Transport Secretary was asked if and when there would be an official legal inquiry. The answer was short and sweet: "When the ferry has sailed."
The Post Office Inquiry was an eye opener when it revealed information previously withheld from the public. There does not appear to be a clamour or any degree of interest as to not just at what stage did the problems start, but who was responsible for a homegrown crisis which is still ongoing, such as the Glen Sannox being too large to berth at her normal port in bad weather. Who I wonder did not appear to ask that basic question years ago?
It is understandable that there is a political and corporate reluctance to give the public access to what has been a torrid time for all involved, however, we the contributors via our tax pounds have a right to know the how and why our money has been wasted.
I suspect the answer will be the cost. As far as the Government is concerned, it's water under the bridge (of both vessels) so forget it.
R Johnston, Newton Mearns.
Give poll power to Holyrood
Currently, the only legal way that the Scottish people can even ask the question about whether they want to become an independent country is for the government in London, which is under the overwhelming control of English MPs, to give them the permission to do so (Letters, April 30 and May 1).
In spite of repeated majorities for pro-independence parties in the Scottish elections in 2017 – and in 2022, when the largest-ever majority of pro-independence MSPs was elected – UK ministers refused to even countenance the thought of another referendum.
This is clearly an absurd situation. If, as seems probable at the moment, the Scottish people elect a new parliament in 2026 with a pro-independence majority, the power to hold a referendum on independence must be devolved to the Holyrood parliament. Anything else would be an insult to the democratically expressed wishes of Scotland.
David Patrick, Edinburgh.
Read more letters
Why on earth are CMAL and CalMac still so stubborn about catamarans?
Why can't the SNP see the message behind the rise of Reform?
Hard work with few results
John Swinney pledges hard work to alleviate child poverty ("Pledge from John Swinney to do more for Scottish children", The Herald, May 1).
How many pledges has this man made in his political career and how many has he fulfilled?
It would be interesting to find the answer. All his hard work has produced very few results, which begs the question, what does his hard work entail?
It amounts to seeking a handout from whatever party is in power in London but simultaneously criticising anything it does to keep himself in power and squandering anything he gets.
It's hard work for the people of Scotland who pay the bills.
Roll on 2026 when all this hard work will hopefully be rewarded and lead to his retirement and less strain on the public purse.
Ian Gallagher, Lanark.
• Within the first few pages of today's Herald (May 1), we can see how enfeebled our current government has become. In the article on how our First Minister is about to volte face on the level of the Scottish Child Payment (or at least has delivered one of his off the cuff 'pledges' to do so), this would appear to be as a direct result of the excellent articles by the Herald campaigning for action to actually tackle child poverty and not just a chest-beating display of concern.
Also, through the seasoned eye and wit of the Herald's brilliant cartoonist, Stephen Camley, the cause of the ferry transport shambles is blown wide open for all to comprehend. This cartoon is so simple but hits the nail bang on the head. Keep up the good work.
Colin Allison, Blairgowrie.
Two-child benefit cap a disgrace
You are due warm congratulations for highlighting the continuing scandal of the two-child limit for financial support in the United Kingdom.
On this very important issue I take my cue from the young carpenter who walked the shores of Galilee 2,000 years ago, when he stated: ''Suffer the little children to come unto me."
He did not limit his statement to the first two children in any family, or say that all the rest should be banished into the wilderness, unshod, unclothed and unfed.
In any event, what is so scandalous about families with more than two children? Queen Elizabeth and her husband and Mr and Mrs Tony Blair had four children and Boris Johnson six-plus.
William Rae McCrindle, West Kilbride.
We must have a wealth tax
I would like to reassure Patricia Fort (Letters, May 1) that I am most definitely not proposing the imposition of museum charges on the most deserving in our society. I made a specific reference to concessions in my letter of April 30 when I mentioned the potential income that could accrue to the National Museum of Scotland. Every museum and gallery that my wife and I have visited overseas has a list of concessions that includes for example children, families, students, the unemployed and so on. These groups are most definitely not excluded from enjoying their culture.
Where I would wholeheartedly agree with Ms Fort is the urgent need for a tax on wealth and an end to the ease with the richest in our country can move their funds to overseas tax havens (usually Crown Dependencies, which makes it even harder to understand) and trusts. This is the real scandal.
Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.
We need a land-value levy
On reading the headline "Greens and SNP call for UK Government to back universal basic income" (The Herald, May 1), my heart leapt. My elation was short-lived, however, as I realised the story was five years old, from the "Past and Present" section.
However, with Labour now in charge there is renewed hope. As would-be champions of the toiling masses, Keir Starmer & Co might be open to the idea of a UBI, financed not from taxes on work or work-based wealth but from the state's main assets: land and natural resources.
The Scottish Government has the power to introduce a land-value levy, as recommended in 2022 by a Holyrood Commission. The
prerequisite, however, is the carrying out of a cadastral survey, as recommended by the Land Commission in the same year. SNP ministers have, however, ducked the issue.
Any UBI must of course have eligibility criteria to discourage welfare tourism, but a full one equivalent to the rent of minimal urban floorspace would in theory end homelessness, and the associated sanctimonious bleating of many a politician.
George Morton, Rosyth.
Our Great Leap Backwards
Norman McNab (Letters, April 28) is to be commended for his apposite summary of the increasing chaos caused by privatisation of the UK electricity industry and the concomitant loss of technical system planning.
Politicians are idealogues, whereas engineers are problem-solvers.
Compare the successes of China under President Xi, a chemical engineer, and the engineers who surround him within his governing organisation. Around 10 Chinese car manufacturers, of whom most of us will be unaware, are due to commence exports to Europe this year.
China now manufactures 28% of the world's products.
President Trump's political attempts to overturn the new world order have probably failed and meanwhile Britain continues to pursue its Great Leap Backwards.
The lessons are clear.
DB Watson, Cumbernauld.
Karoline Leavitt (Image: Getty)
A blast of common sense
Tony Blair's remarks this week concerning an unattainable net zero and Labour's futile attempt to gain it at any cost were merely common sense. In fact, it reminded me of the recent Supreme Court ruling where the cobwebs were blown away from a world of make-believe and fantasy and a blast of sanity cleared and cleansed the air of delusion and make-believe. Are we at last beginning to see the emperor is unclothed in this matter also?
The former PM pointed out the absurdity of working people in the UK and Europe being hammered on energy prices and the effect of their pain on climate change worldwide is less than negligible while the real culprits are left untouched and unquestioned.
Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.
Promulgating propaganda
Like many observers of the new phenomenon of the Teflon-like robot known as Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, I have to ask: could this be our 21st century version of Lord Haw-Haw?
Tina Oakes, Stonehaven.