Readers' letters: Drug-related deaths are Scotland’s shame

The News recently reported the overwhelming concern of the Auditor General for Scotland regarding the haphazard, complex and fragmented positions of the SNP in government when it comes to drug related deaths and the delivery of drug services in Scotland.

Now it is reported that he presented his damning report to the Scottish Parliament's Public Audit Committee. The report does not mince its words: there is no clear coherent holistic plan to tackle the "tragic loss" of lives in Scotland; that general progress to address challenges had been unacceptably slow; that the SNP strategy lacks an "overarching" and "transparent" plan for drug and alcohol services.

The National Records of Scotland will disclose the extent of Scotland's drug related death victims in July this year (conveniently after the council elections).

After 14 years of SNP government Scotland still has the worst deaths toll in Europe, this is also four times that in England .

The official figures show there were 1339 deaths in 2020; Police Scotland calculate their "numbers'' differently but show 1400+ for 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon says these figures are "Scotland's shame" yet they lie fairly and squarely with the SNP Government and collective responsibility.

Politicos of all parties and none will soon be descending upon the doorsteps across Edinburgh seeking our (transferable) vote.

Please note the above as something to ask all candidates about.

Douglas McBean, Edinburgh.

UK energy policy is no help to Scotland

Otto Inglis thinks because we haven’t gone to war with England for over 300 years the Union has benefited Scotland (Letters, April 2). Seriously?

Take one example, energy. The UK sold off its oil and gas resources, most of them in Scotland, to private companies, then cut their taxes to zero. Now they are raking in huge profits while ordinary citizens face ruinous bills that will drive many into poverty.

Sunak refuses to levy a windfall tax on these rapacious companies, preferring to coddle them and their shareholders, many of whom fill Tory coffers. Scotland has 26 per cent of the UK’s renewable energy generation and 90 per cent of its hydropower and supplies nearly all of its electricity from renewable sources. Yet Ofgem, the energy regulator, charges Scottish renewables producers the highest grid connection charges in Europe and ten times more than their English and Welsh counterparts.

Scottish consumers will pay 83-100 per cent more in standing charges compared to 38 per cent for London consumers. Since the price of renewables hasn’t changed, this is pure discrimination that hurts the poorest most.

The National Grid sold 60 per cent of Britain’s gas pipeline infrastructure to Australian firms for over £4 billion, making it harder to get the renewables investment needed to tackle global warming. And the UK Government shunned the shovel-ready Aberdeenshire carbon capture project in favour of sites in northern England to shore up the crumbling Tory red wall. There is no Union dividend for Scotland – only a deficit.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh.

Scrap ferries

As a lover of the French language and a concerned commentator on the political scene in Scotland, something came to my attention which I feel I must report to readers.

There is a word in that wonderful language which is ""ferraille". One could be mistaken for thinking that it was a French word meaning "ferry", but it isn't. In fact, it means "scrap metal". Isn't that a coincidence?

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh.

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