So much for Labour being the party of the working class

Why not chase the money in Caribbean tax havens; why not chase the corrupt money, particularly PPE scandals arising from Covid, the £39 billion failed track and track system, or some of the £200 billion - yes two hundred thousand million - planned for Trident, the deterrent we don’t plan to use?

What about the Scottish Labour Leader? If he had scruples he would immediately resign. He hasn’t and he won’t.

Sadly, I fear this is just the start. The Labour Party once upon a time was the party of the working man and woman. That is no longer the case.

Stewart Falconer, Alyth.

Labour in name only

SCOTLAND is a cold country. Were it not for the North Atlantic Drift, a warm current originating in the Gulf of Mexico, the sea round our western shores would freeze every winter. That's one of the reasons Scottish Chancellor Gordon Brown introduced the Winter Fuel Allowance in 1997. Now a Labour Chancellor has taken it away.

Robber Reeves claimed that her action was "fair and right", but Age UK stated that pensioners would have to choose between heating and eating. Keir Starmer's government isn't a Labour government at all. It's Labour in name only.

William Loneskie, Lauder.

• WOULD 10 million pensioners have voted for Labour had they been told they were soon to lose their winter fuel allowance?

Alan Taylor, Bowden, near Melrose.

• THE word on the street is that Rachel Reeves is about to change her job title to Canceller of the Exchequer.

Willie Maclean, Milngavie.

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Decision makes sense

IF the new Labour Government goes ahead and make the annual cold weather allowance only available to those in genuine need, there will be no complaint from me. My wife and I worked hard all our lives, and we are not wealthy pensioners by any means, but reasonably comfortable. Maybe this is why I have always felt a little guilty at receiving the annual cold weather lump sum allowance.

Is it not common sense that any surplus cash should be going to the genuinely less-well-off? The allowance is a necessity for some, I understand that. But the blanket application of this allowance, even to millionaires, is surely not right in a cash-strapped country. Labour's plans to alter this do not bother me in the slightest.

The perfect example of making the rich richer via benefits was an SNP foul-up. It claims it made prescriptions ''free'' in Scotland. But before it did so, a very high percentage of Scots under the then rules were not paying for their prescriptions anyway. In effect what the SNP did was award the richest percentile of our country a bonus of free prescriptions. In effect the rich got richer.

There need be no ''means-test'' labelling with the technology we have in the 2020s.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.

Basic economics

IT appears that relatively basic economics are not comprehended by one, if not more, of your readers.

Instead of irrationally questioning the honesty and integrity of Scottish Government ministers over delays in building some of the NHS National Treatment Centres budgeted, Bob MacDougall (Letters, July 30) should be asking why the Scottish Government’s capital budget was slashed by 10% by the UK Government?

Consideration of the financial implications of Brexit and the reckless actions of Prime Minister Liz Truss might provide Mr MacDougall with some clues to identifying those responsible for this regrettable capital regression, and to determining whether UK Government ministers acted with “honesty and integrity”, but even if all Scottish Government ministers had been sainted they cannot build treatment centres without money.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

We need a Minister for Peace

A DEPRESSING exchange took place on July 24 in the House of Commons.

The exchange was between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Both men enthusiastically agreed about the need to continue arming Ukraine, without uttering a word about the use of diplomacy and dialogue as a way of stopping the killing on both sides of this dreadful conflict.

It really is time for Britain to stop obediently following US foreign policy positions.

During his time as Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed Fabian Hamilton as a Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament .

The idea behind this position was to help develop a foreign policy based on peace, human rights and justice.

Seems to me this is the type of government post which would be very welcome in today’s warmongering climate.

Arthur West, Scottish Trade Union Peace Network, Irvine.

Israel trade talks a new low

THERE are many serious disagreements about public policy which are within legitimate bounds but sometimes there are truly shameful decisions that transgress any moral standards.

The Starmer Government's announcement that it will re-open trade talks with Israel ("Scottish Secretary hails new trade talks", The Herald, July 30) and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray's comment that this will be "great news for Brand Scotland" is surely a new low. What it does is expose the immorality of "Brand Labour".

For invading Ukraine, Russia is subject to sanctions, boycotts, huge expenditure on weapons for Ukrainian defence. Fine.

For killing over 40,000 mainly defenceless civilians, injuring hundreds of thousands, destroying most homes, schools, hospitals, universities, sanitation, even the national library and, of course, using the deprivation of food and water as a military tool, for all of this Israel is not to be sanctioned but to be rewarded by seeking to increase trade.

The extreme Zionist Israeli Government has stated that it is completely opposed to any Palestinian state. This clearly means that it has invaded Gaza and intends to control it permanently.

The rest of the world sees this crude hypocrisy and so do the majority of the public. Are there no Scottish Labour MPs who will protest?

Isobel Lindsay, Biggar.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray (Image: PA)

• THERE have been numerous letters suggesting that removing the arms supply to Israel would be the correct thing to do. There have also been voices in the USA about reducing arms supply to Ukraine.

I’ve tried to avoid this topic as it’s so complex and delicate but can anyone explain to me what they think the outcome would be if Ukraine doesn’t get support? Can anyone explain to me what they think would happen to a defenceless Israel?

The solution always lies in compromise but if a country is defenceless then its ability to negotiate is drastically reduced and its civilians put in mortal danger.

The UN and Nato should be focusing much more on peaceful solutions. We eventually had the peace process in Northern Ireland; neither side won nor lost and it’s not a perfect solution but it’s a million times better than the alternatives.

John Gilligan, Ayr.

Time for a slavery memorial

THIS Thursday (August 1) marks the 190th anniversary of the freeing of 750,000 slaves in British colonies in the West Indies.

It was on this day in 1834 that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was enacted, and in many of the UK’s former colonies this date is celebrated as Emancipation Day.

The day also provides the opportunity to highlight Scotland’s long-airbrushed role in transatlantic slavery, stimulating a greater understanding of our nation’s involvement in these horrors, but we must do more.

Scots played an incredibly important role as plantation owners, merchants and slave ship captains. Even Robert Burns was considering a position as a bookkeeper in a plantation before poetry revived his fortunes. In 1796, Scots owned nearly 30 per cent of the estates in Jamaica and by 1817, a staggering 32% of the slaves.

It was slavery which played a major part in financing and powering the Industrial Revolution in Scotland, but it was Scots who, it must be remembered, also played a vital role in its abolition.

In addition to pupils being taught of Scotland’s role in slavery, it is vital that we as a nation come to terms with our legacy through the establishment of a permanent memorial, dedicated to the millions of black Africans who suffered.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh.