IN a Ponzi investment scheme fraud, new investors are paid a dividend from their own deposits rather than profits created by non-existent investments made on their behalf; once the source of new investors dries up then the scheme is destined to collapse and the perpetrators face imprisonment.

Our State Pension is not a benefit but an entitlement funded theoretically entirely by us and our employers not the government.

In 2018 the Government spent £96.7 billion on State Pensions yet this year expects national insurance (NI) contributions to exceed £140bn. The UK pension fund would appear to have a structure very similar to a Ponzi scheme in that the Government collects our NI contributions taken from our wages and those currently in work pay the pensions for those who are retired.

National insurance contributions started to be collected in 1911 and revenue has regularly exceeded that spent on pensions, the surplus being used to plug gaps in the annual government budget; imagine the potential size of a pension fund if the equivalent of £45bn had been invested on our behalf every year since then. There would be no need for Women Against State Pension Inequality protests or pushing back of the age of retirement.

It has recently been announced that, as of 2020, pensions may not keep pace with inflationary rises in the cost of living. In a Ponzi scheme this is usually when people start going to jail.

David J Crawford,

85 Whittingehame Court, Glasgow.

IT was interesting reading the collection of top Scottish bands in The Herald Magazine (“So where are the Bay City Rollers?”, March 23) but there was one glaring omission.

Del Amitri were and still are one of the greatest bands of all time from this fair land: great melodies, harmonies, vocals, musicianship and especially lyrics. I have always maintained that lyrics are 50 per cent of a song and Justin Currie could write quirky, original lyrics with the best of them. I saw them at the Hydro about four years ago and it was one of the best gigs I have seen in 45 years of concert going. I just had to get that off my chest.

Alastair Liddell,

2 Morar Drive, Clydebank.

WHILE I accept that one person’s musical heaven is another’s musical hell, I can’t believe that the kings of the Barrowlands, Del Amitri fail to make it. Surely some mistake! As for the finest band ever, it has to be Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band by a country mile.

Roy Gardiner,

3 Riverbank Place, Kilmarnock.

WHAT happened to the Poets? I used to follow them everywhere and still have a CD of all of their recordings. Ian Clews and the Pathfinders: I saw them every weekend at The Centre, the old Astoria in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Danny Wilson from Dundee and Nazareth with Dan McCafferty. I remember them at an open-air concert in Calderglen Country Park. But best of all ... the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. I still play their music in the car.

Tramping down the A9 listening to The Tomohawk Kid up full is bliss.

Ian McDonald

2 Stuart hill Drive,Maryburgh.

THERE are complaints about too many tourists in Edinburgh. I suggest that the Edinburgh Festivals could be distributed to other parts of Scotland. The Fringe could move to Glasgow, the Tattoo to Stirling Castle, Book Festival to Galashiels and the Film Festival to Dundee. The International Festival could remain in Edinburgh for the present. This would allow other parts of Scotland to benefit from tourism while at the same time alleviating the congestion that seems to cause concerns in Edinburgh.

Scott Simpson,

Novar Drive, Hyndland, Glasgow.