Look at Labour's record, Angela Rayner? You sure about that?

Sadly, there is little evidence that the new Labour Government will make much difference with the exception perhaps of the railways. Since Tony Blair abandoned socialism, the Labour Party is almost indistinguishable from the Tories. The UK is still burdened by decisions taken by Mr Blair and Gordon Brown. It was Chancellor Brown who deregulated the banks and exposed the UK economy to the financial crash of 2008. He then sold off 60% of the UK’s gold reserves at a knock-down price. This cost the UK billions of pounds. The charge sheet continues, as it was Mr Brown who turbo-charged the John Major initiative of outsourcing public capital works to the private sector under the guise of the Public Finance Initiative (PFI).

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee reported that since the early 1990s, the public sector used the PFI to build more than 700 public infrastructure assets including roads, schools and hospitals. To say this was an enormously expensive way of borrowing money to build these assets is a massive understatement. Many of these projects included servicing and maintenance costs for the life of the contract. As a consequence PFI is described by opponents as “the rip-off that just keeps on taking” with the private sector “laughing all the way to the bank”. According to a 2018 report by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI), PFI schemes in the UK had a total capital value of approximately £60 billion but public authorities will pay out a staggering £306 bn in total annual charges for these projects. In 2020, Audit Scotland reported that by 2047-48, Scottish taxpayers will have footed a more than £40bn bill for PFI assets worth just £9 billion. Moreover, the British National Debt more than doubled during the lifetime of the Blair and Brown governments.

Finally, as regards Labour’s legacy, we have the disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq. Quite apart from the appalling costs in money and loss of life, this folly contributed to the destabilisation of the Middle East, the consequences of which are still with us today.

So perhaps Ms Rayner might like to reconsider her boast?

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

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New assault on taxpayers

THE King's Speech has kicked off a new assault on taxpayers ("Starmer to establish new child poverty taskforce", The Herald, July 18).The SNP's Stephen Flynn has joined in with a typical call for the benefits limits to be lifted, which sounds good until you ask just how will this be paid for given the obvious new taxes Keir Starmer is plotting and the extra burden on Scots who have higher tax bands already.

Mr Starmer, to his credit, has oft stated the two-child benefit cap cannot be removed until the economy grows. Mr Flynn has not acknowledged this but no matter as the extra taxation already mooted by Labour will depress the economy instead. What an uninspiring start to the Labour era and what a condemnation of the SNP's own failure to tackle child poverty after all these years in office. We are in for a rocky ride.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

• STEPHEN Flynn claimed in a Radio Scotland interview on Wednesday morning that the Scottish Child Payment of £25 per week per child has taken 100,000 children out of poverty.

This is a claim that has been made by Kate Forbes and John Swinney even though this statistic is based on extrapolated forecasts. There is no evidence whatsoever that 100,000 children have been lifted out of poverty.

John Swinney and Kate Forbes said they needed a reset with the Scottish electorate and needed to gain our trust. Making false claims is not going to achieve that.

Jane Lax, Aberlour.

Inheritance tax should be raised

BRITAIN is one of the richest countries in the world; either fourth or seventh depending on how you measure it. So trying to create a debate about if this new Government can afford to eliminate child poverty is a poor apology for doing too little.

Raising inheritance tax to the same level as income tax would do this many times over.

Is it, as many already suspect, Prime Minister Starmer and colleagues do not have the political will to actually do the little necessary to start making a difference?

Meanwhile there is also plenty Holyrood could do already, such as universal free school meals.

Norman Lockhart, Innerleithen.

Let down on Sewel

THE Labour Party of Sir Keir Starmer will not prioritise fundamental reform of the House of Lords but will introduce an English Devolution Bill. The latter should not be interpreted as a first step on the road to federalism, as proposed by Gordon Brown, but is an attempt to appear, at least superficially, to be working more closely with local government in devolving more financial responsibility.

If Sir Keir had seriously considered Mr Brown’s proposals and if he were serious about engaging more positively and respectfully with the Scottish Government, then one of his 40 bills to be introduced in the UK Parliament should have provided for the repeal of the UK Internal Market Act (IMA) with the Sewel Convention put on a statutory footing, as agreed by all five of the Scottish political parties participating in the Smith Commission.

With the UK economy stagnant and devolution on its knees, Sir Keir, supported by less than one in five of the electorate, has less than two years to demonstrate that Scottish devolution and the Union are worth sustaining. Failure to implement the Sewel recommendation of the Smith Commission will simply demonstrate that Sir Keir is a man of meaningless words and that his party (including the patronising chief and deputy chief of the Scottish branch office) has nothing substantial to offer the people of Scotland.

Those who truly believe in democracy, as well as those convinced the majority of the people of Scotland do not wish independence, should welcome either a second referendum (a seven-year interval has been deemed sufficient for the people of Northern Ireland so should also be sufficient for the people of Scotland) or a de facto referendum in 2026.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

Stephen Flynn (Image: Getty)

How to fund extra sewage costs

I WELCOME Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million new houses. However, these 1.5m houses will need to be connected to the existing sewerage infrastructure which is already over capacity and needs improvement and upgrading.

However the new laws on fining water authorities and boards is not welcome as the fines will eventually be paid by the general public one way or other.

The solution would be to charge all developers £1,000 per unit to connect to existing sewers and the money raised, £1.5 billion, used to improve sewerage treatment and quality of water. This is not a large additional cost to the construction of a house.

W Thompson, Lenzie.

Trump ever the showman

UNLIKE Malcolm Parkin and William Loneskie (Letters, July 18), I did not see a Donald Trump having to be dragged from the podium and ready to fight. I saw on the ground an elderly man in shock and when standing whilst surrounded by secret service agents trying to remove him from danger, not wanting to move without his shoes.An understandable reaction of someone in shock.

As ever the showman, he did realise a great photo opportunity.

When he was in office, I did agree with Mr Trump's insistence that Nato countries paid their full share in protecting their own countries, and I believe most do now or at least have increased their financial contributions. However, it is with with trepidation that I view his vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, who like him is an isolationist, and apparently thinks Ukraine should cede land to Putin, but who no doubt will be a capable attack dog for Mr Trump. I wonder if either man would gladly cede American land to Putin?

There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden and Donald Trump, a convicted felon, should not be contesting this election.

Mrs Margaret Lavery, Johnstone.