Readers' letters: Biased World Cup broadcasters score an own goal

I think most Scots have no problem at all cheering on the other home nations when it comes to football.

But sadly the tone of the UK media makes it a little hard to swallow! On match days BBC news bulletins would begin with news of the England team – and the Welsh when they were still taking part – taking up to the first ten minutes of the programme. BBC Breakfast showed us teachers and reporters hyping children to the skies in their schools on match days.

It is this that Scots find hard to take. Gareth Southgate is a good manager, in my opinion, and has some real talent in his team. But on the morning following the 4am explosion in Jersey which claimed several lives, the BBC chose to lead its UK news bulletins on the likely fortunes of England at the World Cup!

No doubt there would be nothing but support were the roles reversed and Scotland still in a competition when England had departed. But I am sure the UK news bulletins would not be starting with team news every match day.

Harry Kane’s missed penalty saw England exit the World Cup

Finally, on BBC's Morning Live on 13 December, the presenter began a link with the words “Now that the World Cup is over...” before pausing and correcting this to “now that England are no longer in the World Cup”. It seems for many broadcasters once England are knocked out the whole competition becomes worthless, never mind the skill and talent on show from other nations.

S M Duthie, Edinburgh

Tough diagnosis

It is not just in South Edinburgh that there is a shortage of GPs and NHS consultants (News, 12 December), and despite Scotland having more GPs per head of population than elsewhere in the UK, most of the problems are outwith the control of the Scottish Government.

Many senior clinicians left the NHS as they felt penalised due to the UK taxation rules on their pension scheme as there was no incentive to enable skilled and experienced staff to continue to contribute to the NHS in the run up to and beyond retirement age.

According to analysis by the Nuffield Trust, the UK has 4,285 fewer European doctors than if the rising numbers who were coming before the Brexit vote in 2016 had been maintained. Many healthcare staff left after Brexit and Keir Starmer’s comments on too many foreigners in the NHS, with no plans for European freedom of movement, won’t encourage them to return, while Labour’s shadow health minister, Wes Streeting, told a Tory newspaper he was willing to fight the health unions battling for the jobs, pay and working conditions of their members, in order to push through reforms with more privatisation of the NHS.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

End anachronism

In the upcoming meeting of The City of Edinburgh Council on 15 December, Councillor Kevin Lang, in question number 4 to the Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee, is to press on why they have yet to present a report on voting rights for unelected religious representatives.

Religious nominees have no legitimacy around a table of otherwise democratically elected and accountable councillors. We struggle to understand what special wisdom they might bring other than to suggest more of their god in schools.

Seemingly it is within the gift of councils at least to remove voting rights from these intruders: this has been implemented already in Perth and Kinross, Moray and the Scottish Borders and Fife are currently at a similar impasse.

We urge CEC quickly to implement the necessary overdue changes to this anachronism.

Neil Barber, Edinburgh Secular Society

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