ERIC Melvin (Letters, September 5) is sadly deluded in his assertions. He is correct that relations with Westminster have deteriorated since 2014 but there is no "muscular unionism" as he tries to put it. He forgets that 2014 was when Nicola Sturgeon took over as First Minister and deliberately turned Alex Salmond's co-operative relationship with Westminster into an adversarial one. This was in an effort to convince the Scottish electorate that we were put upon.

Further, Mr Melvin asks: "Rather than the relentless criticism of your unionist correspondents, they have to answer the question as to why Scotland with its rich natural resources, beautiful countryside, its record of innovation and enterprise, its culture and traditions, its well-educated workforce added to the global goodwill that we enjoy, cannot succeed as an independent country and thrive like our neighbours Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Irish Republic?"

The answer to this is simple. The SNP's policies of grievance and negative politics have set that scene. The SNP has also spent billions on freebies in a gamble that they would be affordable until its failed target of a quick independence referendum with a result in favour of independence exposed reality. Humza Yousaf was even implicated in this when he wrong-footed his own party with the council tax freeze that ironically benefited those who could afford it whilst denying the Scottish Government coffers of a much-needed £150 million per annum. An overspend of £400m on ferries that are seven years late and unaccountable in their spend only adds to the misery inflicted upon the Scottish electorate. That gamble has now failed with the Fraser of Allander Institute and even the Scottish Government's own home-grown Scottish Fiscal Commission stressing that the black hole, now doubled in value from what we were initially led to believe, was largely down to poor management and choices in the Scottish Finances by the Scottish Government.

It is now a matter of record that the recent first ministers Sturgeon, Yousaf and Swinney's incompetence borders upon the supernatural.

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.

• TO correct Eric Melvin's statement that no levelling up funding was awarded to Glasgow, in round three, to quote from the UK Government press release, "Glasgow City Council will receive almost £15 million to invest in Drumchapel town centre, improve connectivity into and around the town, to improve retail opportunities and boost the local economy". South Lanarkshire Council received a similar sum to improve the area at Polmadie and Shawfield.

Eric Flack, Secretary, Blairdardie & Old Drumchapel Community Council, Glasgow.

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How Labour has fallen

THIS year marks the centenary of my great-grandfather Samuel Clowes’ election to the House of Commons. "Honest Sam" was the son of a miner who worked his way from apprenticeship to active trade unionist. He negotiated wage increases and was active in promotion of safeguards for workers’ health and became the first Labour MP for Hanley, Stoke on Trent.

The Fabian Society favoured a national minimum wage in order to stop industries lowering wages instead of investment and the development of a health service so that we would be more productive rather than “stunted, anaemic, demoralised denizens”.

And now we have a Labour Party supporting a two-child cap, rape clauses and scrapping the winter fuel payment.

Age Scotland reports that 43 per cent of people over 50 live in fuel poverty, 12% claim Pension Credit with many more eligible. Sixty per cent of old people are totally reliant on an inadequate state pension and a quarter of people in their late fifties have stopped saving for retirement.

As a result of Tory, and now Labour, austerity we are now living in poorer health, for longer with less money.

Another man of the 1920s, George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm that “the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig... but already it was impossible to say which was which”.

Honest Sam would be aligned with a party that negotiates with unions, had the best public sector pay and strives to improve the living conditions for all. He would not be in Jackie Baillie’s cardboard trough of a "Labour" party.

To quote The Wire, “it makes me sick to see how far we done fell”.

Rebecca Machin, Ardvannie.

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Attlee stood for mixed economy

MAGGIE Chetty (Letters, September 4) is of course correct about the achievements of the Attlee government, although she is curiously blind to its downside: for example, how many of us would tolerate food rationing or support the extension of the military conscription which sent young men to their deaths in Malaya and Korea?

She also seems to forget that the far left opposed Attlee and the mixed economy that he stood for. That same mixed economy under parliamentary rule of law is exactly what Keir Starmer's current Labour Government stands for, which I suspect is what Ms Chetty means in her mumbo-jumbo description of a "Westminster ruling class ideology". We have to wonder what she might prefer: maybe a Communist-style command economy such as that enjoyed by the same East Germans who are now so keen to support the AfD? Or does she still believe in the SNP's tinpot nepotistic Toytown regime?

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.

What's wrong with means testing?

THE Legal Aid Board make decisions based on the financial means of an applicant as to whether the state will fund a solicitor to assist them.

With this in mind, and given the Government's limited resources, I don't understand why a similar process should not exist with regard to university fees, bus (and rail) travel as well as prescriptions? In fact one application could even relate to all the above.

Why on earth should people with sufficient financial means be entitled to a free bus pass for example? It simply doesn't make sense.

I suppose an argument against this idea would be the spectre of means testing but what would be wrong with that concept? The new winter fuel payment process is exactly that.

Jim Kirkwood, Kilmarnock.

Grenfell: go back to the old ways

I AM very disappointed that the Grenfell Inquiry has not identified the core reason for this disaster (“Grenfell Tower disaster cause ‘dishonesty, failures and greed’”, The Herald, September 5).

The current method of awarding a construction contract is to invite competent contractors to submit an offer to construct the project on a design and build tender. The contractor employs architects, engineers and quantity surveyors to design, specify and cost the project based on the client's brief.

The cheapest tender will be successful. This leads to the submission of a tender based on the minimum design and specification.

It is a false economy and dangerous as Grenfell and other building projects have proved.

It also leads to over-spend and substantial delays in completion of projects. There are many examples of this.

When I was initially working in the construction industry the client employed a professional team of architects, engineers and quantity surveyors to produce a project, properly designed and specified to their requirements. Tenders and conditions of contract were prepared and issued for submission to selected contractors.

If we are to prevent other disasters then we really need to revert to the old tried and trusted procedures.

W Thompson, Lenzie.

What lessons should be learned from the Grenfell tragedy?What lessons should be learned from the Grenfell tragedy? (Image: PA)

• THE first responses from the manufacturers of the cladding components used at Grenfell Tower can be summarised as follows: “Our materials are safe but were used unsafely.” The manufacturers of machine guns and their ammunition could use the same excuse for shooting fatalities. However it is a recorded fact that the component makers fudged and misrepresented test results and performance data, so most of the buck will go to them.

Currently building control and NHBC methodology relies on someone, not necessarily competent, signing off a completed work and giving assurance that it complies with statutory standards. Little inspection takes place to prove this. The Establishment under whatever party has allowed this to continue, supposedly just to ease red tape. Some of the buck must be shared by these bodies.

After two smaller tower block fires well before Grenfell nothing changed in English building controls or the fire service procedures so that buck gets bigger.
However the same buck-passing goes on with Ofwat. For years the water companies have been declaring profits for their investors and management bonuses. Now they claim that remedial works to eliminate pollution of sea and rivers is too expensive so contributions by the Government and the public, by raising charges, are essential. Freezing all dividends and bonuses is fundamentally essential, indeed recovery of previous ones obtained after previous fines should be considered.

Perhaps the appointment/continued office of Ofwat should also be reviewed as the current situation has been in effect too long.
JB Drummond, Kilmarnock.