Public ownership comes from the canon of socialism, to make the position of workers in a particular position paramount in a capitalist system where labour is weaker than capital. A government that nationalises should know that, and be able to accept a responsibility to get around rules that might jeopardise what it now owns.
Robert Menzies (Letters, March 20) sets out WTO rules, and others, that he says prohibit the Scottish Government from favouring Ferguson Marine on the small ferries order. From my international experience I know of governments which have circumvented international trade rules to favour not just a public sector entity but also a private sector interest. It is true that, by and large, governments do stick to international rules on trade and other matters, that is until they face a circumstance when it doesn’t suit them to do so. No names no pack drill about a present example.
But l don’t need to cite foreign examples to hold the Scottish Government to account over its wrong decision on the vessels contract ("Fears for future of shipyard as ferry contracts given to Poland", The Herald, March 18). Its own actions in the original award of the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa contract suffice. Information gained from Freedom of Information requests shows the Scottish Government went to great lengths, no matter what the rules said, to bend and ignore them, to ensure the order went to the private company as Ferguson Marine was at that time. Why is the Scottish Government not now as nimble in the case of a yard it owns?
Jim Sillars, Edinburgh.
Question over the bidding list
Robert Menzies, (Letters, March 20) and Brian Wilson ("Blame for latest ferry farce? Look no further than the SNP", The Herald, March 20) are at odds with each other but neither addresses the single most baffling question about this £175 million contract. That is: just how did Ferguson Marine get on to the bidding list at all?
On any contract of this size, the potential bidder must be the subject of due diligence and duty of care, these are legal requirements to protect their shareholders, in this case the ministers of the Scottish Government. Part of those would be the current and historic assessments by CMAL of Ferguson's finances and its record in manufacturing, delivering and in the quality of the the product, ie the Glens Sannox and Rosa.
I challenge anyone to produce them showing any favourable reason to promote FMEL to the bid list, so why did it even occur?
Peter Wright, West Kilbride.
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Time for a new Scottish party
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday the Prime Minister referred to the UK’s “broken status quo”. This may have come as a surprise to those wedded to the Union or to those who believed Anas Sarwar’s mischievously misleading claims made before the last General Election that all of Scotland’s current problems were the fault of the SNP Scottish Government.
The seemingly unpalatable truth for some is that Brexit has hastened Britain’s demise and Scottish independence will hammer the final nail in the coffin of the British Empire and the VIP privilege associated with a dysfunctional democracy and epitomised by an archaic and decadent House of Lords. It’s long past time to end the constitutional status quo for the benefit of all of the people inhabiting these islands, especially the people of Scotland.
In the meantime, with the news that Neil Findlay has quit the Labour Party ("Party stalwart Findlay quits Scottish Labour over disability benefit reforms",The Herald, March 20) is it not time for the STUC to consider funding an Independent Scottish Labour Party representing the core principles of Keir Hardie’s Labour Party and supporting self-determination for the people of Scotland? Henry McLeish, Richard Leonard, Monica Lennon, Brian Leishman and many other Labour politicians past and present must also be dismayed at the recent decisions made by Keir Starmer’s Labour Party and surely it is finally time to recognise that no matter the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster the policies of the UK Government will invariably better reflect the wishes of the people of England. If the STUC will not now support the SNP it must now step out of the shadows and back a truly socialist ISLP.
Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.
Who will they target next?
Tuesday, March 18 2025 will go down in the annals as a day of shame for the Labour Party. Anyone who has cared for a disabled person knows they need more in the way of provision, facilities and resources, not less. Slashing funding in the way Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall proposes ("Charities condemn ‘cruel cuts’ in government welfare reforms", The Herald, March 18) is as heartless as it is despicable and demonstrates just how far to the right Labour has moved since Sir Keir Starmer became leader. Ms Kendall's cuts will cause pain, distress, hardship and, inevitably, avoidable deaths. We can only hope sufficient Labour MPs will have the integrity and backbone to rebel on this issue and force a rethink.
One question has still to be answered in relation to the austerity drive evidently being pursued by Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves, and that is which group will they target next in their desperation to squeeze money out of the system? From what we have seen up to now it would appear that only those who are in the millionaire to billionaire bracket can consider themselves safe.
Alan Woodcock, Dundee.
Speaking Frankly
Thank you for letting us know that Nicola Sturgeon's forthcoming book will be entitled Frankly ("Frankly revealed as title of Sturgeon’s new book", The Herald, March 20).
I have a feeling that perhaps the original title was to have been Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Damn, but her publishers advised her that this was not a phrase which she should use. The phrase is known, of course, as a superb line spoken in the 1939 film Gone With the Wind by the character Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable (although not written by the book's author Margaret Mitchell, who did not include the swear word in her work). Mr Gable said his line to a distraught Vivien Leigh, playing the iconic Scarlett O'Hara, who shouted at her ex-lover: "Where shall I go? What shall I do?"
Thus the Frankly should sell lots of copies for Ms Sturgeon, as it sums up her thoughts for the Scottish people and electorate, and will perhaps help her to make up her mind as to where she should go and what should she do to try to regain her once-high regard with which she was held in a now-crumbling country.
Walter Paul, Glasgow.
The high cost of renewables
We regularly hear that so-called renewables are the cheapest way of generating electricity. Not true. While wind and solar are free the costs of actually using these are enormous. A Byzantine structure of subsidies means their cost soars. The Renewables Obligation weighs in at £7.6 billion per annum. Contracts for Difference at £2.4bn. Grid balancing costs £2.5bn. Paying for the Capacity Market £1bn. These costs – and some others – mean that every megawatt of wind power needs £113 in subsidies. Add in the market price of the electricity and you have a cost of £180/Mwh. Gas-generated electricity works out at £83/Mwh. And if President Trump can secure a peace deal and get Russian gas flowing again to Europe gas prices will tumble.
During a dunkelflaute, when grey windless days predominate, wind machines don't work. At night neither do the huge solar farms which are spreading across fertile farmland. Ed Miliband, the UK Energy Secretary, however, claims they will bring us resilience and energy security with Chinese lithium battery yards popping up everywhere taking up the slack, even though these can supply a small amount of power for only two hours. Mr Miliband is going to spend £22bn on carbon capture schemes to store 1% of Britain's anthropogenic CO2 under the North Sea. A new general hospital can be built for £1bn.
We should listen to Professor RG Faulkner of Loughborough University when he says: "In his push towards net zero Ed Miliband is committing us to a miserable future". Tory leader Kemi Badenoch agrees, saying reaching net zero by 2050 is a fiction which could bankrupt Britain ("Badenoch says ‘get real’ on net zero and declares 2050 target ‘impossible’", heraldscotland, March 18).
William Loneskie, Lauder.
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