Starmer has just done more for Scotland than Swinney will ever do

The Herald Scotland

01-06-2025

Anyone associated with the EU needs to be aware that the SNP is far too leaky a vessel to be putting much hope in. We used to say that the only thing it was really interested in was in achieving independence. Now, we cannot even say that with any conviction. The few survivors of its many internal battles are really just in it for themselves.
My sense is that the UK Prime Minister has moved things along in a positive direction. Good for him. His deal will do much more for Scotland that than nice Mr Swinney ever will.
Victor Clements, Aberfeldy.
What's behind the rise of Reform
Re your Hamilton by-election preview ('Can SNP fight off the threat from Reform and Labour?', May 25): the rise of Reform even in Scotland is a protest against the incompetence of the Tories and Labour at Westminster, and the SNP here. It's a phenomenon we see in other countries: populism as a reaction to the excesses of the governing, globalist uniparties. Just look at France, Germany and the USA; the "left-behinds" with their pitchforks are understandably on the march.
George Morton, Rosyth.
Read more letters
Fighting hunger in our schools
The heart-wrenching revelations in your report on children facing debilitating hunger in Scotland's schools ('One-quarter of children 'too hungry to learn' in schools', May 25) must not be ignored.
It is an indictment on our society that many young learners are deprived of the basic necessity of food, undermining their educational opportunities and overall wellbeing. As a nation, we pride ourselves on our commitment to equality and opportunity; however, these ideals often fail to reach the heart of our educational system, where hunger has become an all-too-common companion.
Philosopher Aristotle wisely stated: "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." Our education system has always been a cornerstone for fostering future generations, yet if our children are turning up to school hungry, we are, in essence, planting seeds in barren ground. Children who struggle with hunger are often unable to focus, engage, or perform well academically.
The sobering fact that a significant portion of our school population relies on food banks and charitable donations to meet their daily nutritional needs requires immediate action. Local councils and the Government must mobilise efforts to expand free meal programmes, making it a basic entitlement rather than an exception. Schools should serve healthy, balanced meals that not only provide physical nourishment but also educate children about sustainable living and nutrition.
Community engagement plays a vital role in addressing and solving this crisis. Initiatives that involve families, local businesses, and food producers can create a support network that ensures children are fed throughout the school day. This collaborative effort can rejuvenate local economies by creating jobs and fostering partnerships in food production and distribution.
Furthermore, as Benjamin Franklin stated, "a good conscience is a soft pillow". It is incumbent upon us to ensure that no child suffers the indignity and distraction of hunger in our classrooms. We must mobilise civic leadership, political will, and community compassion to eradicate food insecurity as a barrier to educational achievement.
The implications of this approach extend beyond the classroom. With sufficient nourishment, our children will not only thrive academically, they will also grow into healthier adult citizens capable of contributing positively to society. By investing in the future of our children today, we cultivate hope, resilience, and prosperity for tomorrow.
In summary, let us heed the call to action posed by your coverage. Let us ensure that every child enters school not just with hopes and dreams, but also with the tangible means to realise them. Remember, the future is most certainly at stake here.
Alastair Majury, Dunblane.
Trump is right on oil and gas
Donald Trump is quite right in his view that Aberdeen could be an oil hub for decades to come.
With modern oil and gas extraction techniques even the life of depleted fields can be extended by many years to maximise on investment returns.
The SNP's position of early closure of the North Sea, which is fanned by the Scottish Greens, would inevitably lead to thousands of oil workers being dumped on the dole as there are no alternative energy jobs available in the short term.
Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.
Council's war on businesses
The news revealed in a response to your FoI request that Glasgow City Council has raked in £1.7 million from its LEZ scheme with a total of over 68,000 fines being levied ("'Reinvested back to city': Glasgow drivers fined £1.7m in LEZ fines since 2023", May 25) surely confirms that the LEZ is primarily seen by the council as a money-making scheme with no thought given to the businesses, residents or charities affected by it.
If any proof is needed of the council's contempt for the residents and businesses of Glasgow it is surely shown by the news reported recently in your sister paper the Glasgow Times that bus users face significant disruption for 18 months due to roadworks at the Buchanan Bus Station associated with the council's Avenues Project, the same poorly planned, shoddily constructed and ruinously expensive fiasco which devastated Sauchiehall Street and Cambridge Street.
In its seemingly never-ending war of attrition with city centre businesses Glasgow City Council has, through a combination of bus lanes and gates, the LEZ and ever-increasing parking restrictions and charges, made it virtually impossible to visit the city centre for any purpose by car; now it seems intent on making it even more difficult to use the bus.
I note that one of the services facing "significant disruption" is the 500, the bus from Glasgow Airport. As a Glaswegian I am already cringing at the mess which will greet visitors to this once-proud city due to the roadworks and the revamp of George Square.
I recently visited Duke Street where the seemingly-abandoned Avenues project roadworks have left this now much-narrowed road an eyesore of traffic cones, collapsed barriers and unusable pavements. Surely at the very least finish one area before starting another?
The council seems intent on an ego trip that is turning Glasgow city centre into one giant building site. Surely the council tax and business rates payers deserve better?
Rather than finding ways to make it more difficult to visit the city centre which is in a state of decline the council should stop wasting money on ill-conceived vanity projects and sort out Glasgow's disjointed, unreliable and expensive public transport.
Billy Gold, Glasgow.
Glasgow's LEZ has raised £1.7 million in fines since 2023 (Image: Colin Mearns)
Why make excuses for Putin?
Like Hitler, Vladmir Putin is a psychopath unrestrained by any sort of morality. The reasons he gives for attacking his neighbours seems to me to come straight from Hitler's playbook of excuses for his aggression in the 1930s. I struggle to understand why so many, like George Morton (Letters, May 25) are so ready to make excuses for him.
Ukraine was never any sort of threat to Russia. It gave up the nuclear weapons on its soil in return for Russia's guarantee of its independence. The EU, which Ukraine seeks to join, is not a military alliance, while Nato is a defensive alliance which will only act if a member is attacked. Since the notional end of the Cold War military spending by Nato members, including the USA, has fallen considerably, which scarcely suggests aggressive intent. After a brief hiatus, Russia resumed its nuclear arms programme, explaining the tardy support of the USA and Nato generally for Ukraine. No country or alliance is going to attack nuclear-armed Russia.
The EU is an organisation based on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Does that explain why Presidents Trump and Putin loathe it? Hitler would not have liked it either.
Ronald Cameron, Banavie.