Readers' letters: Scottish Parliament’s future under threat

Ian Swanson (News, September 23) is right. Devolution is threatened, but it’s even worse. Within the year, the Tories are on track to dismantle the Scottish Parliament.

The EU Withdrawal Bill could undermine the Scottish Parliament

On September 1 Alistair Jack will be in Edinburgh to inaugurate the English Embassy, Queen Elizabeth House, cementing colonial rule over Scotland.

It will house 3000 UK civil servants from HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Office of the Advocate General.

Next will be the ratification of the EU Withdrawal Bill, currently in its second reading.

Clause 38 of that bill imposes the English principle of parliamentary sovereignty over Scotland, effectively burying the Scottish constitutional principle of popular sovereignty embodied in the Claim of Right Act.

Under popular sover-eignty, the people lend their power to the government to serve the common good. If the government fails to do so, the people have the power to remove it through the Convention of the Estates, a National Assembly drawn from the communities of Scotland.

Westminster fears this people power which is why it is determined to destroy it. To ensure Scotland loses its power, Westminster has a new Act of Union to replace the Treaty of Union, without reference to the Scottish people or MPs.

The Westminster govern-ment has repeatedly violated the Claim of Right, treating Scotland as a colony, not as an equal partner. It has taken our resources, used our people as cannon fodder in its wars, destroyed our industries and impoverished our people.

Time is short but by uniting, we the people can stop the destruction of our nation’s constitution. We must urgently convene a National Assembly to reassert our rights and end a union that threatens our very existence as a nation.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh.

These are challenging times – for some!

When Nicola Sturgeon says "we live in a really challenging time with inflation in double figures" it is worth reflecting upon who exactly she means by "we".

The reality is that folk like herself (£157,861 per year) and her fellow MSPs (£66,662 per year) are not actually affected by that "really challenging time" she talks about.

As for the city council's chief executive Andrew Kerr, his pay is well over £100,000 more than his cleansing work staff!

It is folk like like them, not Ms Sturgeon or Mr Kerr who are struggling financially because of soaring food and energy bills. And it is comfortably off politicians like our First Minister who are responsible for the "mountains of filth" across Edinburgh by thinking it's okay to pay rubbish-level wages (under £25,000 per year) to those who empty the city's bins.

Would she put up with working as hard as they have to for the insulting level of wages they get in return? Probably not.

Mr Kors Allan, Edinburgh.

Helping children

We would like to wish The Makaton Charity a very happy birthday. The Makaton language programme uses symbols, signs and speech to help people with communication and learning difficulties to communicate, and this Sunday marks 50 years since the programme first began.

Children with disabilities are over three times more likely to suffer abuse than their non-disabled peers and helping children with a range of needs to access our preventative messages is really important to us.

For information and to download resources visit nspcc.org.uk/pantsguides

Mubashar Khaliq, NSPCC

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