Want to talk about waste, Mr Swinney? Have you got a mirror?

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

Given the awfulness of the ongoing ferry saga, the state of the Scottish NHS, the cancer waiting times, the demise of the Scottish education system, giving criminals home detention curfew at 15% of their sentence, the disastrous Gender Recognition Reform Bill bill and the failed Named Person Scheme to name but a few, is it not reasonable for John Swinney and his Cabinet to step down and call an election so we can get a government of whatever persuasion that actually wants to improve our services and make Scotland a better place to live?
They've been in power for 18 years and they have nothing to be proud of.
Jane Lax, Aberlour.
• Without wishing to diminish the responsibility of former Dundee University principal Professor Iain Gillespie and his colleagues for the financial failure of Dundee University it was richly ironic to see SNP MSPs on the Education Committee vent their outrage on this individual when the Scottish Government's record on economic rectitude has been abysmal. Pot, kettle comes to mind.
Alan Ramage, Edinburgh.
Where the focus really is
Watching First Minister's Questions on Thursday (June 26) I lost count of the number of times John Swinney said that he and the SNP were "focused" on dealing with the many problems facing their handling of the NHS. He was responding to the latest data on cancer treatment, delayed discharges and the absence of Health Secretary Neil Gray on a trip to Japan. These had prompted multi-party attacks on their abysmal record.
His use of that word would be credible only if those hearing it did not know that the SNP only exists to focus on separatism on behalf of those who think it is the solution to all our woes.
Mark Openshaw, Aberdeen.
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The Iranian connection
The UK Defence Journal reports that dozens of social media accounts pushing for the break-up of the UK disappeared simultaneously on the day Israel bombed Iran's cyber infrastructure ("'Dozens of pro-Indy accounts went offline when Israel bombed Iran'", heraldscotland, June 25). Few will be surprised there.
But, even so, it should open a few eyes in the nationalist movement.
Perhaps some deep thinking needs to be done by the Scottish nationalists on having Iran as an ally, whether wanted or not.
Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.
Slim down the civil service
Anyone who heard the evasions and prevarications practised by Joe Griffin, the new head of the Scottish civil service, in front of a Holyrood committee this week ("Top civil servant told to 'get on it' after Supreme Court ruling on gender", heraldscotland, June 24) will not be surprised that nothing much of value seems to be achieved by government in Scotland. It is over two months since the Supreme Court ruled that biological sex is the determining factor in definitions of "woman", "man" and "sex". Yet the SNP administration is still unable to implement policy that reflects that judgment because first, according to Mr Griffin, the Justice Department needs to establish a working group to talk about what they should do.
Yes, Minister was far ahead of its time in describing this: "when the time is ripe", "in the fullness of time", as Jim Hacker said about implementing a particular policy not to his taste. We know that the SNP regime is dragging its heels on fulfilling the requirements of the Supreme Court decision because its leaders still believe that they were right to impose the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which was mercifully halted by Westminster.
It is not at all reassuring that the already grossly bloated Scottish civil service seeks to obstruct the law by procrastinating. Scotland now has a huge financial black hole. It is time for Holyrood to administer Ozempic to the bureaucracy, to slim it down to its essential functions, and also to bring civil servants back into offices they have avoided for all but one day a week.
Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.
The high cost of nuclear waste
Your front page headline today ("Nuclear industry says ministers' green energy plans are 'fraud' and will see Scots miss out", The Herald, June 27) does bring to mind the old aphorism that 'it takes one to recognise one'. Those with long memories will recall the promises from the nuclear industry of 'electricity too cheap to meter', of safe disposal of nuclear waste, safety of the entire process and so many more. All of these have failed to come to pass as Windscale, Chernobyl and many smaller events bear witness. The continued costs for future generations of the safe storage of nuclear waste are conveniently forgotten.
It hardly behoves an industry with this track record to accuse others of fraud.
Dr RM Morris, Ellon.
• Today's front page shows the argument about the use of nuclear energy: do we believe the safety assurances made by the Nuclear Industry Association or the warnings that Torness (like Hunterston) is cracked beyond repair and potentially dangerous?
The day that the British Government agrees to build a reactor beside the House of Commons is the day I'll accept it is safe.
Allan McDougall, Neilston.
We need proof of safety
Having been raised on the west coast of Cumberland, I remember going to the local farm with our tin can to collect the day's milk. I was surprised to see Archie Rose, the village bobby, supervising the pouring of the day's milk into the farm's drains. Calder Hall, as it was then called [now Sellafield], had had an "incident". My father was not exactly pleased with my story.
When I worked in Barrow later in life I became aware of three men of the same age as myself who went to the same school as each other and all had tumours on the brain. Unfortunately two died, one of whom was the former England football captain, Emlyn Hughes. They say there are no hotspots, but I recognise that as a raging inferno.
For years it was recognised that pollution from fossil fuel burning was injuring the health of a number of people. Action was not taken until the implications of climate change were realised. I am not prepared to sit back and smile at expansion of nuclear power until a proven secure way is found for disposal of nuclear waste.
Andy McAdam, Ayr.
Shuffling the problem
A simple question for those in charge of Scottish energy policy, and let us assume that the electricity grid will continue to be "national" in the sense that electricity will flow in both directions over the Border. If coal as a source of energy is gone, the opposition to new wind installations is growing in effectiveness, there is no sign of usable tidal power and the Scottish Government has set its face against nuclear generation, has that government invented a clever way of interrogating each electron making its way north to ensure that it was not produced by nuclear means so that it can be sent home?
If not, in times of power deficiency in Scotland will we not simply be shuffling the problem off on to our neighbours, and that could never happen. Oh wait, though: was that a truck full of landfill I just saw heading south?
Brian Chrystal, Edinburgh.
Nuclear is for weapons
SO Ed Miliband's 'golden age' of nuclear power awaits us. Well, Keir Starmer is warning us to be ready for war, and we know from Ukraine that nukes are potential war targets. A strike on Torness could, depending on its severity, render much if not most of the Central Belt uninhabitable for many decades.
Let's face it; nukes are built to produce plutonium for weapons, with the electricity merely an expensive by-product. In a country with our tidal potential, going down the road preferred by Ed Miliband and the GMB union would be dangerous lunacy.
George Morton, Rosyth.
Will Scotland be using electricity generated by nuclear power? (Image: PA)
Change tack on prostate cancer
I note Lauren Del Fabbro's article ("Olympic star Hoy calls for change over NHS prostate cancer tests", The Herald, June 21) regarding an interview with one of the bravest and most noble sporting legends of all time who has been dealt the most devastating hand imaginable, but who being a person with such moral fortitude has again risen to the challenge and has now singlehandedly done more for highlighting the failures of the NHS in the way that they deal with prostate cancer than all of the charities and pressure groups.
The NHS tells us that most men who have prostate cancer will have no symptoms. The NHS says that if prostate cancer is caught early 90% of men will have an effective treatment. It does seem to be an absolutely staggering situation the NHS has created in the way it attempts to deal with prostate cancer. The NHS only tells GPs about the NICE referral route for men who have symptoms. The NHS refuses to tell GPs about the referral route for men who have no systems (bearing in mind that most cases of prostate cancer will have no symptoms at first). This route for men without symptoms is called the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP). Because of the fact that the NHS fails to provide advice and guidance on the PCRMP referral route, GPs are generally not aware of this mechanism and because of this men are routinely not referred when they should be. This results in men being diagnosed much later on when they come back with symptoms, often leaving men without any curative pathway.
It is only following Sir Chris Hoy's harrowing position and because of his legend status that the NHS was forced into doing something. So on December 12, 2024 there was a change put in place to the PCRMP in that the minimum age limit of 50 before men could obtain a PSA test was removed. Hence in 2025 a man of any age who does not have symptoms can ask his GP for a PSA test. So many thanks to Sir Chris Hoy for his incredible courage and his ability to start to make change happen within a body that resists change. The NHS would never have moved without his influence.
The next change that needs to happen is that the NHS tells its GPs that there is not just the NICE referral route but the PCRMP referral route for men without symptoms as well and in so doing many prostate cancer will be caught early and men's lives will be saved.
Duncan Carins, Ewhurst, Surrey.
Trump to a T
Today's verse from Scripture in your Family Announcements section (June 27) was from St John chapter 15: 'You are my friends if you do what I command.'
I immediately thought of Donald Trump; it seems to sum up his philosophy perfectly.
Doug Maughan, Dunblane.