Billion-pound failures of Labour and Lib-Dems

Instead, they imposed the long-term burden of a PFI method of finance on health boards and education authorities in order to comply with Gordon Brown’s policy of removing capital expenditure from the public purse. It has been recently confirmed that the amount still owed under Labour’s PFI for hospitals and schools is £15.4bn.

They only built six council houses during their term in office and were intent of closing hospitals, including Monklands A & E, prior to the SNP coming to power in 2007. Also, judging by the poorer NHS performance and educational attainment gap in Wales, there is no evidence Labour would be a better alternative to the SNP.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

Some rhetorical questions for SNP

Ruth Marr is loyal disciple of a failed goddess, Nicola Sturgeon, and should study in detail Kevin McKenna’s article (“Sturgeon has a brass neck criticising councils”, The Herald, July 4). But the title of the article – key phrase “brass neck” – would cause a swift turning of the page.

Ms Marr’s letter is light on numbers; there are none. We are told the Caird Hall was “brimming”, implying full and overflowing. Media sources indicated it was half-empty; whereas Ms Marr may claim half-full and – with a disciple’s licence – report “brimming”. There was no TV picture of the entire hall; thus we were denied the evidence of our own eyes.

Ms Marr comments about “all the enthusiastic new members who have joined the SNP over recent months”. No numbers. Does Ruth Marr possess numbers? If yes, who is her source? Does she trust her unidentified source? Can we readers trust an unidentified source? A rhetorical question with a clear answer: no. Are the enthusiastic new members donating funds to the SNP at present? Another rhetorical question; same answer.

William Durward, Glasgow

A morally bankrupt legacy

Guy Stenhouse has provided a timeous and first class summary of Nicola Sturgeon's downfall and the morally bankrupt legacy she has left us with in his column (“Nicola Sturgeon and the arrogance that laid her low”, The Herald, June 28).

By way of constructive criticism, I would have added a bit more on her handling of Covid 19 and the way she used the daily reporting as a vehicle to garner more power. It was a masterpiece of social engineering with the daily opportunity to drip-feed the fear thus embedding a level of anxiety in us all which she could then be perceived to be resolving.

She was of course helped by Boris Johnston and his carnival of chaos but at the end of the day she did not do that much different from the UK government, she merely said it better and, by adding a few tweaks here and there to make it look better. The outcome was pretty much the same in Scotland as it was in the rest of the UK

Hopefully we can draw a line under the Sturgeon era and start on the sadly long journey to recover our battered reputation and credibility on the world stage.

Keith Swinley, Ayr

Tax exodus fear is misplaced

Yet again, we witness the highly predictable claim from some quarters that council tax hikes for those in the highest bands will lead to a “brain drain”, an “exodus” of middle-class earners, and deter those looking to come to Scotland.

Putting aside that this is a leaked paper from COSLA on a proposed consultation, it notes that those in the highest council tax band, band H, could be forced to pay an additional £741 a year. I am not sure just over £60 a month will cause such a deterrence, with the Volvo packed and headed south. Indeed, I am not sure if the increased level of income tax paid by those with the broadest shoulders has caused such an “exodus” or deterrence to come here to date.

While the tax impact on the richest is indeed more, those parties gnashing teeth neglect to mention the free tuition enjoyed by Scottish students, with those south of the border having to pay over £9,000 a year. Prescription fees in England are also over £9 per item, while in Scotland they are free. Average water charges are also lower than those south of the border. Better funded public services are also a key element that make somewhere an attractive place to live.

Most Scottish taxpayers pay less income tax than their English neighbours, but for those who are better off and pay more, let us not forget the likes of lower water charges, free university fees, free prescriptions and free bus travel for pensioners and young people.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh

A distortion of Blair’s message

In response to the critics who claim the Scottish education system is not as good as it once was during a supposed golden age, former teacher Eric Melvin illustrates that memories can be rose-tinted. Drawing on his experience of a recent school visit he provides a spirited defence of the present day situation (Letters, July 4).

The issue is perhaps influenced by the rather incongruous way in which education in modern times makes a distinction between pupil attainment (essentially the level of pupil performance in external assessments) and achievement (a wider view of individual pupil progress) .

In 2001 the then Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a speech at the University of Southampton and reminded his audience that his key government policy was “education, education, education”.

However he also said: “At a good school children gain the basic tools for life and work.

"But they ought also to learn the joy of life; the exhilaration of music; the excitement of sport, the beauty of art, the magic of science. And they learn the value of life; what it is to be responsible citizens who give something back to the community”.

I feel that in Scotland we have perhaps allowed ourselves, possibly through being conditioned by the very education system we have historically boasted about being world class, to distort what Mr Blair said.

Could it be that when we think of our young people having a successful education we can only think of “attainment, attainment, attainment”?

Bill Brown, Milngavie

Stronger in what way exactly?

In response to a query about the Orkney council debate, Downing Street says: “Fundamentally we are stronger as one United Kingdom. We have no plans to change that.” What does this insipid soundbite mean? Stronger in what way?

Certainly not in our declining living standards (which are set to drop behind Poland and Romania by 2030). In the ongoing con that our banks and supermarkets continue to get away with, squeezing us til the pips squeak? In our total irrelevance to the EU or indeed our great ‘ally’ the US? Or our privatised industries, working so productively for shareholders, not for us?

All power to Orkney Council! And, eventually, the people of Scotland.

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

Opportunity for new station

With regard to the new bridge at Winchburgh (“Work begins on new bridge over the Glasgow to Edinburgh railway line”, The Herald, July 4), will this and other associated works lend encouragement to re-opening the railway station at Winchburgh, a proposal that has previously been aired?

From what I gather there is much on-going development in this locality far removed from the original village atop Winchburgh Tunnel; the station itself was one of the original 1842 openings of the line, but closed in September 1930.

That station was situated in a deep cutting just north of the tunnel mouth accessed by stairways from a footbridge to the platforms from the station buildings (excepting waiting rooms) which by necessity were at high ground level.

I should imagine that a new build could be similarly created taking into account better access/egress to the platforms.

John Macnab, Falkirk