Once again, the question of retaining the state pension triple lock is on the political agenda, with both main political parties remaining tight lipped on whether it should be retained.

As a pensioner myself I am fed up with our sector of society being used as a political football. I am also railing against the constant misconception that the basic state pension is now £203.85p per week for all, when in reality many employees who had made more than the required National Insurance contributions to qualify for a full pension, theirs only equates to £156.20p per week.

This totally unfair anomaly exists primarily due to the fact that many thousands of employees were automatically “contacted out” via salary-related pension schemes, with the contracting out element being applied to what was called the “additional state pension”, which was received as a top up, if you were male and born before April 1951 and a female born before April 1953.

At the time, many imponderables and unrecognised terms relating to how pensions were calculated prevailed, and little has changed today, so is it any wonder that most employees did not understand the implications of this principle at the time. By contracting out, both employees and employers alike enjoyed a slightly reduced national insurance contribution hence the differential in the basic pension today.

I am quite sure that had employees fully realised the enormous long-term disadvantages that would ensue for them and not their employers, by this policy, they would have refused to accept the change, especially had they been given a choice. I consider that the gain made, over a limited number of years, by slightly reduced NI contributions, nowhere near equates to the ongoing loss the current differential of £47.65 per week on basic state pensions means today. Furthermore, when an annual percentage increase is applied, then this differential rises exponentially each year.

The policy was removed in 2016 and under the circumstances I consider that the time has come when The Department for Work and Pensions should undergo a complete overhaul of state pensions, with a view to introducing a fairer, more transparent system, which should restore near parity for all, especially considering the enormous pressure pensioners with a fixed income are under today, due to the current cost of living crisis.

Christopher H Jones, Giffnock

£13.1m on trams inquiry is well spent

Lord Hardie’s report on the Edinburgh tram inquiry is a thorough and painstakingly detailed piece of work pointing out shortcomings in the management and governance of the project. Following the previous mismanagement of the design and construction of the Scottish Parliament building and the ongoing debacle over procuring two ferries, this report warrants careful review in order that better practice may be implemented thereby increasing efficiency in public sector capital expenditure.

Yet the Scottish Government’s immediate reaction is to question the conclusions of the report and be critical of its duration and cost. Inexperienced Cabinet Secretary Mairi McAllan is quoted as saying, “the inquiry took too long [and] was too costly” (“‘Meddling’ Swinney slammed by trams inquiry”, The Herald, September 20).

The inquiry was established in June 2014 and has reported 9 years later. It cost £13.1m, which could be viewed as a sound investment if it reduces the risk of future capital project cost over-runs in excess of £100m.

Another inquiry, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, was established in October 2015. It is focused on historic issues and its output is not about improving current practice. Rather it states that its “overall aim and purpose is to raise public awareness of the abuse of children in care… It will provide an opportunity for public acknowledgement of the suffering of these children and a forum for validation of their experience and testimony.” Its benefit appears to be more therapeutic than practical.

As of June 30, almost eight years on, it has cost £71.7m. There is no indication when it will complete its work and, from comparing its published findings with the list of institutions it is investigating, it appears it has not yet reached the half way stage. Yet there is no criticism from the Scottish Government about this inquiry being too long and too costly.

Of course, Lord Hardie’s report criticises the SNP-led Scottish Government and former Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney. That is surely the reason for the instant attempt to discredit it.

George Rennie, Inverness

Minimum pricing isn’t working

As the uselessness of minimum pricing is once again in the news, here are some points that should be taken into consideration.

We are told the policy is to eliminate cheap alcohol consumption, the outstanding proof being there is no such thing as cheap alcohol. Year on year the price of alcohol has risen beyond any increase in inflation. Has this stopped people going to the pub? The answer

is no, it hasn't. Has this prevented the consumption of alcohol? No, it hasn't.

When drugs and alcohol minister Elana Whitham speaks of the need "for more to be done to tackle alcohol-related harm", did she ever think of asking those with alcohol problems if they thought an increase in minimum pricing would lessen their consumption? The answers to that are: no, she didn't, and no, it wouldn't. There is also evidence that problem drinkers will cut back on essentials like food when faced with rises in the price of alcohol;,surely adding to more health problems.

Minimum unit pricing was introduced in 2008 and since then the figures have shown there to be an increase in "alcohol-specific deaths", surely proof that such a ridiculous scheme could, and never will, work.

James Simpson, Erskine

Dangerous man of Prestonpans

Concerning On This Day (The Herald, September 21), it’s strange that in over 250 years, hardly anyone has noticed exactly how victory at Prestonpans was achieved. Far from being asleep on the job, General Cope was on his toes all the time, turning his army round during the night to face the Jacobites as they approached from different quarters. Then, at first light, he turned them once more, only to find he had been duped, as the men he was facing in the faint light were only a handful of decoys, with the bulk of the Jacobites then attacking from behind.

That is why the song tells of Cope, at the head of his army, being first to come with news of his own defeat. In a letter to Cumberland, a couple of days later, he tells him that the tactic was devised by the most dangerous man in the enemy ranks, Alasdair MacDonnell, chief of the MacDonalds of Keppoch and favourite dining companion of General Wade while road building in the Highlands.

George F Campbell, Glasgow