Readers' letters: How Scotland lost out on post-Brexit freeports

Twenty years ago, news that three major foreign investments have gone to the Teesside Freeport in preference to the Scottish government's confused, huffy, beta-max Greenport would have been headline TV news, with an apopleptically mockraged Alex Salmond accusing Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Secretary, the Scottish Parliament of sleeping on the job.

Not now, apart from a five-minute analysis by Douglas Fraser on BBC Radio, Scotland’s 800,000 teatime TV news audience and the other other 3.5m voters have heard almost nothing.

They don't know that in April this year eight English freeports had already been awarded.

We should all be furious. Instead the whole sorry affair is just another layer of sludge in the blocked drain of Scottish affairs that the SNP/Greens don't want to shift, the opposition can't or won't and TV channels run a mile from.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.

England are not the only team players

Well played England (men's national football team) as runner's up of this year's European Championships, albeit having played all-but-one of their matches at home.

While not all of us north of the Border may have equally revelled in the team's achievements, the column inches afforded them during and after their performance can hardly be begrudged, other than by our own inherent jealousy, healthily fuelled by many years of rivalry.

However, for the BBC to award both Gareth Southgate and his players their annual Coach and Team of the Year awards on this basis shows a lack of respect for the other sports and nations under their watch which could claim both greater achievements and need for increased media attention.

Earlier this year Team GB clinched their first ever Olympic gold in wheelchair rugby before Scottish Curling's women and men both won their respective European Championships, also on foreign shores, to name but two of many examples more worthy of the accolade.

Surely an open goal for a corporation ever struggling with accusations of geographical and gender imbalance to swing the spotlight elsewhere, rather lazily rewarding those responsible for its existing viewing figures.

The history books show that an English team has won this award 19 times since one from any of our other home nations in the last "30 years of hurt".

In fact, that anomaly, by Scotland's Rugby Team 1990 remains this only such occasion in the last 50 years, despite Wales having won the Grand Slam no less than seven times during this period, without ever having lifted the coveted silver camera.

Is it the winning, the taking part, or just the (three) lions' share of the licence fee?

Blair Hutton, Edinburgh.

Scotland puts people before profit motive

The UK Government is considering raising the age for free prescriptions from 60 to 66.

Meanwhile, corporation tax in the UK is only 18 per cent, the lowest it has ever been and one of the lowest in the world. So yet again Boris Johnson looks as if it is going to punish the sick, the poor and the old in favour of the wealthy.

In contrast, prescription charges in Scotland were abolished in 2011 as the Scottish Government sought to mitigate the worst of UK government policies.

How fortunate we are to live in Scotland, in a society which cares for people rather than seeing them as a source of revenue.

David Howdle, Dumfries.