NOT only are controversial SNP Government proposals to freeze council tax next year continuing to evoke widespread criticism, but it has also caused further rifts within the party itself (“SNP split over council tax freeze as “boost for well-off” is slammed”, The Herald, October 23). However, I cannot agree with former health secretary Jeane Freeman’s intervention, when she suggests that the measure should be targeted at those on the lowest incomes rather than people like her.

Ms Freeman may well be in a position to readily absorb such increases but there are many elderly pensioners out there, living in properties within the higher tax bands, who are already struggling with the cost of living crisis and are unable to cope with further demands on their fixed incomes, especially those, prior to the SNP party conference, in which increases of between 7.5 to 22.5% on band E to H homes were proposed. This latest freeze is widely acknowledged as a vote-winning ploy by the SNP, leading up to an election year, and will simply mean punitive rises will apply in the next tax year.

I well remember that when the council tax freeze ended in the 2017/18 period, it was followed by the same exorbitant levels as originally proposed for 2024/2025, equating, for example, in a band G property, to a whopping £400 per annum increase. The time has come for the SNP Government to stop using council tax rates for political gain and instigate the long-awaited review into how local councils are funded. Empty promises benefit no one.

Christopher H Jones, Giffnock.

Put aside the politicking

LET me say, in response to Brian Wilson’s piece (“Why does Holyrood refuse to face up to local government reform?”, The Herald October 24) that the answer is party politics.

It is hard to imagine that the opposition parties would not find every way possible, including the implausible, to extract party political advantage from whatever the Scottish Government proposed. That would be true even if proposals for local government reform emerged from an independent commission.

If there is to be a solution, it will have to be through agreement between the political parties on, at least, the main proposals. So far, this has been unavailable.

It is disingenuous for Mr Wilson to say: “Under the guise of devolution, local government has been pared to the bone as a force for good”. Surely he is aware of the increasing number of councils in England issuing Section 114 notices, which are effectively declarations of insolvency. The role of devolution cannot be a factor there.

The real culprit is, as I have pointed out before, the swingeing cuts to central government funding of local government by the Conservatives since 2010. This is automatically transmitted to Scotland through the Barnett formula.

If we are to have a solution, which Mr Wilson says he wants, he and others will have to put aside party politicking.

Alasdair Rankin (Edinburgh SNP Councillor 2011-22), Edinburgh.

Read more: SNP split over council tax freeze as ex-health secretary hits out

Let children express who they are

THERE are a few things in Mark Smith’s article ("Maybe Graham Linehan is right: Scotland is changing", The Herald, October 23) with which I strongly agree, including that Twitter is a poor forum for having nuanced conversations, and that online abuse is far too common and should be tackled. Yet Mark makes these uncontroversial points through recounting conversations he has had with Graham Linehan on the topic of trans people.

Linehan is pretty notorious for being both abusive, and entirely one-sided, on this topic: Mark himself references an incident where he called David Tennant a “groomer” for wearing a t-shirt supporting trans children, and he frequently calls trans people and the organisations that work to improve their lives "paedophiles" and "nonces". He has been one of the main contributors to the toxic online environment on this issue. It is pretty baffling to see a call to change the nature of this online atmosphere connected to the words of one of the prime contributors to it.

Another thing Mark and I completely agree on is that children and young people should not be presumed to be trans just because they don’t conform to gender stereotypes. Trans organisations like mine have been clear for years that we do not think that, for example, a young boy who likes wearing princess dresses, trying on his mum’s make-up and whose favourite colour is pink, is a trans girl. We do not think that a person’s interests, likes and dislikes are a predictor for their gender identity, and we do not think that being gender non-conforming means you have to transition. What we do think though is that all children and young people should be safe and comfortable to express who they are, and be given the acceptance and support they need to flourish and thrive.

Vic Valentine, Manager, Scottish Trans, Edinburgh.

Why I nominate Jimmy Reid

PERHAPS you will allow me further space to answer comments on social media and other suggestions for naming the new Govan-Partick bridge. Interestingly there has been no comment from Glasgow City Council's PR department.

In my original letter (October 17) I did mention the fact that Jimmy Reid was just one of the leaders of the UCS work-in.

The bridge connecting the communities of Govan and Partick/Glasgow University is I think a metaphor for Reid’s amazing journey from humble beginnings in Govan to the heights of academia as rector of Glasgow University. As I previously indicated, his address to the students on April 28, 1972 was at the time described as the very pinnacle of oratory: a fact recognised by the New York Times which published the address in full.

As far as I am aware none of the others from the UCS work-in completed such a journey.

There is no intention on my part to detract from what they did during that memorable period. However, Reid’s interesting life journey transcended the social differences that existed in Glasgow.

For that reason alone I have nominated him for this honour.

Dan Edgar, Rothesay.

• JOINING in the debate regarding the naming of the new crossing over the Clyde (Letters, October 13, 17 & 23), I was discussing the topic with my younger son. Clearly being much wittier than I, he suggested that if the city wants to name it after a Glasgow comedian it should be called Kevin Bridges.

Paul Erskine, Glasgow.