It's the Tories - not SNP - who have questions to answer

We have just experienced a global pandemic, a pandemic we hope none of us have to experience again, however, reserves are needed for such global or national incidents and Ms Smith may want to bear that in mind.

Considering the Scottish Government do not have full economic powers and have reiterated time and time again, the books must balance and Scotland has no borrowing powers.

Ms Smith claims the Scottish Government are in receipt of a record Block Grant, a Block Grant that has shrunk by £1.7bn in real terms due to the knock-on effects of inflation, inflation that is being exacerbated by the austerity policies of the UK Government.

Instead of calling for answers from the Scottish Government, Ms Smith may want to get some answers from her colleagues at Westminster, colleagues who have crashed the country’s economy and have plunged many hardworking families into poverty, driving the demand at foodbanks and hot hubs.

Catriona C Clark

Banknock

Leave Lady Hussey alone

So, Lady Susan Hussey's age is no excuse, and she should know better? Better than what?

Was her questioning really "racist" in the first place? Lady Susan was probably just interested. Or trying to include Ms Fulani.

Picture this: I am at a gathering in London and somebody overhears my Scots accent and asks where I am from.

"Scotland," I say.

"Whereabouts?"

"Near Glasgow,"

"North or south?"

"North."

Oh – which town?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I am a linguist and interested in regional accents/love Scotland and all things Scottish/used to live there."

Or maybe just: "I thought you and your friends looked a bit lost and wanted to make you feel at home."

Or would that exchange just be another case of racism? It seems you can't say anything to anybody now for fear of causing offence. And as for touching somebody without their consent?

"I see you've fallen in the canal, son – do you want a hand out?" "Yes please!" "Right, but I'd better get a witness, don't want to do the wrong thing here - just hang on a minute, eh?

Haw Jimmy, gie's a hand over here will ye......"

D Fleming

Kirkintilloch

Budget blues for Holyrood

The Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, warns that Holyrood is facing its first budget overspend – which is illegal – with an emergency budget already having cut £1.2 billion from current spending and very large pay claims from public sector unions unresolved. All that is in the face of continuing predicted volatility in the public finances next year, at least.

The Scottish administration’s solution to this is for HM Treasury to provide it with increased funds from the taxpayer. Is this the same Scottish administration that keeps reminding us that ‘resource-rich’ Scotland is a wealthy country that would be even more wealthy if it left the UK? That campaigns for Scots to reject membership of the UK that sends us Barnett consequentials every year, to enable us to live in the style to which we have become accustomed? That cannot explain how it would compensate for losing the circa £12 billion Barnett funds Scotland receives every year?

Jill Stephenson

Edinburgh

Lost in the supermarket

A sign of the times. Supermarkets are reducing their manned tills and increasing the number of self scan checkouts. This appears to be much against a lot of shoppers wishes.

The queue at Sainsbury’s checkouts today which stretched up the aisles would tend to confirm this. Eight times out of ten when using a self checkout, an assistant is required due to the quirkiness of the system. Talking (complaining) to staff, they are generally in agreement however the change has been foisted upon them. All this and we are now being regaled by even louder ‘muzak’ to soothe our tattered nerves.

We don’t all want to do online shopping.

Steve Barnet

Gargunnock

An autumn poem

William Soutar, the Scots poet,wrote about what he called 'The Daft Tree ...

A tree's a leerie kind o loon

Weel happit in his emerant goun

Through the saft simmer days:

But, fegs, whan baes are in fauld,

And birds are chitterin wi' the cauld,

He coosts aff a' his claes.

I have to admit to being quite overwhelmed by those lovely almost-bare trees in Alex McNaughton's photo of the trees on Hartfield Road in The Herald on Friday I will keep the photo of the trees with the poem but am looking forward to the return of those "saft simmer days".

Thelma Edwards,

Kelso

The rich are getting richer

Smart guys, these doctors! They think that those who can afford it should pay more for treatment in NHS. I agree. But why just restrict that philosophy to the NHS?

We live in a highly complex society and recent and future strikes by those who earn the least have done and will graphically demonstrate that the level of remuneration an individual receives often has no direct relationship to their worth to society as a whole.

Rather than the NHS having to set up an expensive system to recoup funds directly from individual members of the public, why doesn’t Westminster introduce a form of levy on everyone’s income?

A system where the more one earns the more one pays and where unearned income is taxed at the same or higher rate of contribution as the earned type would ensure that Government always had enough resources to fund public services adequately. They could call it income tax. Why has no one thought to do this?

Alternatively, Westminster could just create as much “new” money as it requires using quantitative easing rather than allowing the privately-owned banking system to do so as currently happens every time you take out a loan or pay interest on your overdraft.

If government did this the colossal amount of potential tax revenue that is currently lost through evasion and avoidance would be irrelevant and we could all keep what we earned rather than just those with bank accounts nominally in some distant tax-haven but actually controlled by institutions in the City of London.

The wealthy should pay more than they currently do to support society in general as the indisputable fact is that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer and the progression is unsustainable.

David J Crawford

Glasgow

NHS money-making scheme

There have been suggestions from the medical profession that wealthy patients pay for GP appointments. The politicians would love this, providing that enough people agreed with the idea. This is the reason why they would be happy: a high charge at first would ensure that only the wealthy paid.

This, of course, would give them priority over the rest of us, a real bonus for the Conservatives who look after their rich friends. A win-win situation!

James Evans

Dumbarton

Where's the Brexit bonus?

With all the horrendous news about the NHS: where are the £350 millions promised as well as 60 new hospitals?

Where are the over 5000 EU nurses and over 4000 doctors who either left the NHS or just chose not to work anymore? I am one of them.

Rosemarie Lang

Douglas

BBC wrong to put online first

The BBC is making cuts to conventional television and radio services to increase funding for online activity. Personally, I do not mind paying a bit extra for BBC online, but I am sure there are many who do. Should there not be a basic TV licence for those who only want to watch television and listen to radio, with an option to pay a supplement for access to online services?

It seems wrong for the state to force citizens (who may not even own a computer) to pay for online services they may not want before being allowed to watch television in their own home.

Scott Simpson

Glasgow