Readers' letters: Not all share Murdo's rosy political view

Murdo Fraser MSP’s claim that the UK will soon have a ‘fresh Tory government’ would be hilarious if it weren’t so depressing.

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has the backing of Fife list MSP, Murdo Fraser

He unleashes another howler - the Scottish Government isn’t spending its £41 billion budget to help people.

Scotland raises more than £62.8bn in revenue - much more, in fact, since GERS understates it - yet never sees £21.8bn since it stays in England, paying for HS2, Crossrail, London sewers, Buckingham Palace and Westminster repairs, and nuclear weapons that are stored minutes from Glasgow.

London has broken so many promises to Scotland that it’s easy to lose count. A few examples of the Cost of Union crisis include: £1.3 billion less in levelling up funding, over £1 billion less for public services and EU replacement funding, £1bn lost from reneging on a carbon capture facility, £3bn EU divorce bill Scots didn’t vote for, £2.6bn loss in pensions, and £1.4bn cut in welfare benefits. That’s £10bn.

Scotland’s borrowing powers are limited. It depends on the Treasury to give back more of its own money, which won’t happen especially since Westminster is preparing the mother of all power grabs - dismantling devolution and centralising power in London.

London tells us we’re too poor to leave but the reality is we’re too valuable. In a rapidly warming world, England will need our water, land and energy. It’s time we take back what’s ours to build a better nation.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh.

Time to end free EV car charging

A report by the RAC showed that with the increased price of electricity it will cost more to travel long distances in an electric car than a petrol one - even before factoring in the much higher purchase price.

However many EV owners do not pay for all their vehicles' electricity but are being subsidised by income taxpayers, council tax payers and of course everyone pays 20 per cent VAT. Supermarkets have free charging points as do railway stations but why are UK councils squandering our council tax on providing free electricity and free parking? Free electricity for EV owners must stop immediately.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.

UK funding benefits all our athletes

Both Paul McLennan, SNP MSP East Lothian and Colin Beattie, SNP MSP Midlothian have rightly highlighted Scottish athletes and para-athletes performances at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

What was refreshing and striking about their successes were the Birmingham crowds giving huge non-partisan support to those competing from all the home nations. Indeed, Eilish McColgan particularly credited the crowd for helping her to her historic win.

It is also rewarding to see all the home nation athletes athletes benefiting from the UK-wide training facilities as well as the funding from the UK Lottery and UK Sport to succeed in such events as well as in other international events like the European Championships and the Olympic Games.

Tim Jackson, Gullane.

End of good manners

I was surprised and disappointed to read that Alex Cole-Hamilton insulted a female colleague then apologised but only grudgingly.

Being in Britain for 40 years has disbused me of many preconceptions about those with titles and double barrelled names but having bad manners is really the final illusion.

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh.

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