I NOTE another in a long line of disappointing, but not surprising, statements re progress on the two Ferguson vessels (“New delays over Scots 'fiasco' ferries after safety regulator audit”, heraldscotland, August 23).

On Arran, it has been thought for a very long time that there was no realistic possibility of the ill-fated MV Glen Sannox entering service before the beginning of the next winter timetable, October 2024. To suggest otherwise is misleading. This further delay follows only a week after Fiona Hyslop, another in a long succession of here-today-and-gone-tomorrow SNP transport ministers, revealed after five minutes in her post that the whole Ardrossan harbour project, led by a ministerial task force for at least six years or more, would be put on hold pending a full review and re-scoping of the works. So, if Ardrossan work is ever to proceed, which looks increasingly unlikely, it is hard to see how it could start before the third quarter of 2024 as a final design has not been agreed, therefore costings remain uncertain, consequently funding cannot be committed and because of all of those factors a final tender document is as yet believed to be unfinished. As a result the tendering process and contract awards are all on hold.

Ms Hyslop has allowed Transport Scotland and others to report back by the end of 2023, which with their track record is, to say the least, optimistic. The tendering process cannot begin before that task is complete, perhaps January or February 2024 and it is thought by people with engineering experience that the tendering process alone would take at least three months. Meanwhile Troon starts to appear as a likely long-term, if not permanent, alternative for the Arran service. If that were to be the case, with a single vessel and a longer time in passage, there will be an inevitable daily loss of sailings, enforced by working time regulations and consequently there will be a considerably shortened day with a serious impact on all aspects of island life and the island’s economy.

It is possible that we could be reverting to timetables akin to the early 1970s.

Finally, it should not be forgotten that the dual-fuel aspect of these vessels, which is largely to blame for this fiasco, came about as a caveat by the Greens to ensure their support for the SNP budget all those tears ago. At £400m for the two vessels and the onshore infrastructure it’s a hefty price to pay for political support, but it is we who are paying, in more ways than one, for their vanity and political ineptitude.

Neil Arthur, Kilpatrick, Isle of Arran.

• I NOTE on the guide to available programmes on my internet TV a series called called Million Pound Motor Homes. Whilst I look forward to the episode recorded in Dunfermline, is there not a spin-off about ferries?

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.

Read more: SNP has more to worry about than defeat in Rutherglen

Shocking legacy of the Tories

I AM the first to accept that mistakes have been made by Holyrood but has Scotland prospered as part of the UK?

Consider the record of successive Conservative and Labour UK governments. Our heavy industries have been obliterated; our oil revenues sold off and the proceeds squandered; our public utilities privatised with enormous profits for shareholders but with soaring costs and a deterioration in services for the long-suffering public. It was Gordon Brown who deregulated the banks, an act of folly that led directly to the financial crash of 2008 and it was the same Gordon Brown who cavalierly sold off 56% of the UK’s precious gold reserves. And it was a Labour government that took the UK into a costly and illegal war in Iraq.

Since then, we have had 13 years of Tory austerity. Years which have witnessed relentless pressure on struggling public services with shocking consequences for those least able to cope. We now have three million families having to resort to food banks to get by. The Trussel Trust calculates that a food parcel is issued every eight seconds in the UK. Shockingly the majority of those having to access food banks are actually in employment.

You report the Buttle UK children’s charity stating that of the 4.2 million children living in poverty, 120,000 children are now considered to be destitute ("Stark increase in number of children living in destitution, claims charity", The Herald August 19). The article goes on to quote the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s definition of destitution as "going without the essentials needed to eat, stay warm and dry, and keep clean". There are reports from England of children being kept off school because they lack proper clothes to wear.

What a shocking indictment of this incompetent, heartless Tory government. Add in a faltering economy, punitive energy costs, rising mortgage rates, huge overspends of billions of pounds on various UK capital projects, record levels of government debt and the incontrovertible damage being caused by Brexit then are we really "Better Together?" Perhaps your Union-supporting correspondents might like to shift their critical gaze to Westminster for a change.

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

Let's focus on child poverty

I WRITE in response to Catriona Stewart's column ("We need to talk about parents of kids in care", The Herald, August 22) which refers to Neil Mackay’s Big Read article on Sunday ("Why many Scottish children end up in care ... by simply being born poor", August 20). One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) has published a report this week which highlights a "blind spot" in relation to how the care system interacts with the benefits system. The OPFS research highlights what can happen to family finances when children can no longer be looked after at home and the serious implications that can have for the family being reunited.

We know that poverty is a significant contributory factor to a wide a range of social issues, including interaction with the care system. The Independent Care Review, which resulted in The Promise, said it was “impossible to review Scotland’s ‘care system’ without properly considering the pervasive impact of poverty”. The specific knowledge gap about what happens to family finances when a child or children are unable to live at home and are taken into care is why The Promise Scotland commissioned OPFS to undertake this important work.

Ms Stewart is right to highlight the complexity and nuances in this debate, and her challenge around the way I responded to one of Mr Mackay’s questions is fair and welcome. We all need to think carefully about how the complex issues of poverty and care are framed, and I will reflect on my part in that. The excellent work of Each and Every Child, particularly their toolkit, is a useful starting point for anyone wanting to know more about how to frame, and engage in, debates around care experience.

I am sure we can all agree that child poverty must be addressed as part of Scotland’s efforts to keep the promise made to children and families. The OPFS report contains a number of clear, practical recommendations and I would urge everyone to focus on these, and begin the urgent work required to implement them.

Fraser McKinlay, Chief Executive, The Promise Scotland.

Read more: Labour has only itself to blame for losing Scotland

Just what is decisive?

ALASDAIR Galloway (Letters, August 23) sums up perfectly the nonsense of Scottish independence being achieved by a 50.01% vote in favour at any future referendum. He agrees that, while the 55% to 45% result of the 2014 referendum was “clear”, he argues that it was not “decisive”. He must, therefore, in all logic, agree that a 50.01% vote in favour of independence at any future referendum would be in no way “decisive” and would, in reality, be a complete travesty, leaving 49.99% of voters feeling completely disenfranchised and alienated.

Perhaps he can suggest what percentage vote in favour of, or against, independence could be regarded as “decisive”.

Bob Hamilton, Motherwell.

Oil giants' greed affects us all

AS a retired person and living relatively near the town centre I endeavour to use my car as little as possible. Recently I have noticed a gradual increase in the cost of a litre of petrol at two of my local supermarkets. This morning a litre of petrol is priced at over £1.50.

Meanwhile the energy companies like BP, Shell and others are making obscene profits and BP chief executive Bernard Looney and Shell chief executive Ben van Beurdon are among the most highly paid according to the research carried out by the High Pay Centre ("Pay for UK’s top bosses jumps by 16%", The Herald, August 22).

The greed of these companies has a knock-on impact on delivery and therefore the cost of food and other household goods. And the impact for folk who need to use their cars to get to work because of limited public transport services.

Lets not forget the part the UK Government plays with VAT set at 20% .

Teresa McNally, Alloa.