Readers' letters: SNP target Boris in council elections

Surprise, surprise! Nicola Sturgeon launches the SNP's council election campaign by talking about - Boris Johnson.

Most would agree with her description of him as sleaze-ridden, though I'm not sure how we can get rid of him in the council elections.

And though many would also agree with her charge that he is incompetent, does it not seem a bit rich coming from our own head of government?

I wonder why Ms Sturgeon did not kick off with a list of all her own achievements during her tenure as First Minister.

In education for example - her "priority" - or the health service or the police or drug issues or the economy or transport? I could go on.

Presenting yourself as arguably a notch above Boris Johnson would seem to be a pretty low bar to set oneself. Clutching at straws, however, seems to be all the SNP can offer. The Scottish electorate need to waken up to the fact that the SNP is a government in power and not a party in opposition to the Tories and that its record is one of miserable failure.

Only then is there a possibility of ousting incompetent governments from Westminster and Holyrood.

Colin Hamilton, Edinburgh.

Hospital problems are down to Brexit

The BBC appears to think that if the English NHS is toiling then Scotland’s NHS must be worse.

As a retired GP I resent their attempt to run down Scottish hospitals. “Lady left waiting in A&E for 24 hours!” they trumpet. Sounds bad, but actually she explained that she was well looked after, tucked into a bed awaiting a place in a ward. Many hospital beds are now clogged up with patients who are fit to go home but have no package of care waiting for them outside.

A fairer way to announce this would have been to say that “Now that Brexit, coupled with entry restrictions imposed by Westminster, prevent foreign workers from taking caring and nursing jobs in Scottish old folks’ homes and housing for the disabled, our NHS hospitals find it impossible to discharge many patients that are fit to go home.”

Again a more accurate way to report, “Being left in A&E for 24 hours,” would be, “A&E has had to enlarge to include a keeper ward with staff to care for patients waiting for a bed in a specialised ward. They are managing this magnificently.”

If I was not forced to pay the BBC license fee I would get my news from more reliable sources like Al Jazeera.

Elizabeth Scott, Edinburgh.

SNP uclear energy opposition is wrong

The SNP's existential opposition to nuclear power has always been a puzzle to me.

It seems to go back to the time when Jack McConnell, as first minister, declared Labour against nuclear power on the basis that no one knew what to do with the radioactive waste. In fact this was mistaken.

The nuclear industry handles its waste better and more safely than any other industry and storage and disposal is well established. No one has ever been harmed by radioactive waste but many have been harmed by the waste from traditional power generation.It is even possible to burn radioactive waste (fission products) in a reactor such that little real waste remains.The Scottish Government appears to have no valid reason for its opposition, except perhaps that it is against any Westminster policy. Nevertheless, Scotland will eventually have to import nuclear-powered electricity as its obsession with renewables leads to blackouts

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh.

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