I WISH I could agree with Andrew Learmonth when he says our parliament “can only, surely, get better” (“Infuriating, frequently dull and a bit stupid … yet Holyrood reigns supreme”, September 29). What we had at the outset of the Scottish Parliament 25 years ago was hope for decisions in devolved areas to be made in Scotland and for local communities to be able to make decisions that worked best for them.

This is not what we have had for the last 17 years. More and more powers have been centralised by the SNP and power taken away from local authorities and communities. How many of us have been forced to endure the sight of wind turbines in rural communities because of decisions made by a person sitting behind a desk in Edinburgh? How many of us no longer get decent local authority services that we desire because the SNP at Holyrood decided to freeze council tax?

Devolution works both ways but that’s not what the SNP wants.

Gordon McDonald from Buckie who was quoted as saying “We can actually start making decisions for ourselves, rather than getting things imposed on us” is clearly choosing to ignore the damage done by the party he once represented. He does a lot of great work in Buckie but he should acknowledge as an ex-SNP councillor that many decisions at Holyrood impact negatively on the people he is helping in Moray. A council tax freeze does not help with the provision of education, social care or local authority housing.

Until we have people at Holyrood who stand up for their constituents rather than the party, our Scottish Parliament will not be serving its citizens best.

Jane Lax, Aberlour.

Perspective in housing

I AM disappointed at the lack of wider perspective in your front page article on housebuilding by local authorities in Scotland ("Alarm grows at ‘astonishing’ failure of Scots council areas to build new homes", September 29).

The Welsh Government website states that in 2022/23 no new dwellings were completed by 15 out of 23 local authorities in Wales: that is more than half. The same Welsh Government document also had all dwellings completed across the UK every year from 2013/14 till 2022/23. In every one of these years Scotland had the most houses built per capita among the four nations.

Perhaps some other Housing Ministers should be in the firing line for the sack, before Paul McLennan. I am not a member of any political party and I am not a journalist, but it took only minutes to find this information. If this story is based on a Labour Party press release, should we not be told?

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

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Our killjoy government

OCTOBER heralds the new welcome to Scotland when the cost of wine, beer and spirits will increase by 20% more than the rest of the UK.

This is in addition to the highest rate of income tax in the UK and will simply add more misery to the return of peak rail fares and an eye-watering 10% increase in energy costs.

There seems to be no end to the SNP "killjoy" government policy of discouraging people from coming to work or play in Scotland.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

Abortion is a grave issue

KEVIN McKenna is wrong to cast abortion clinic buffer zones as an instance of anti-Catholicism ("I pray that someone sees sense on thought crimes", September 29).

While Catholics are often at the forefront of defending the unborn, the abortion clinic vigils involve Christians of many denominations.

The drive is not against Catholics, it is against the dignity and worth of the unborn. In particular, the aim is to insulate from challenge the consciences of those involved in abortions. Of course, if consciences were not troubled, there would be no need to protect them. The lie that abortion is just a form of "healthcare" may be repeated ad infinitum, but it can't suppress the universal human intuition that every life matters.

Abortion is the moral blind spot of our time. "Medical" staff killing the unborn are paid by the taxpayer, while those inviting reconsideration are criminalised.

In Scotland, the taking by the state of 18,000 innocent human lives in a year should not be a fringe political issue. It is a grave evil that must be challenged and stopped.

Richard Lucas, Scottish Family Party, Glasgow.

No laughing matter

I'M afraid I found Kevin McKenna's Diary this week one of his worst yet. Kevin decided to treat the matter with his "sense of humour". I really can't think of anything to do with abortion to laugh about. Still, let's have a look at what he says.

He suggests that the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act is criminalising prayer. It isn't. But can we just consider this particular act of prayer? I share Kevin's Christian faith, albeit as a member of a different sect. I believe in the power of prayer. However, I don't believe that you have to be in a particular place or close to particular people for prayers to be heard. I'm sure Kevin believes this too. So, if they don't need to be there for their prayers to be heard, why are they there?

Kevin's humour only extended to identifying ways in which Catholics who may be tempted to break the new law may be identified. I'm sure he is aware of non-Catholics who are opposed to the legislation and who have participated in the "gatherings". Perhaps he feels they will automatically obey the law; or maybe he thinks our law enforcement officers will leave them alone?

Far be it for me to offer Kevin any career advice, but can I respectfully suggest that when he feels he has had enough of journalism - or vice versa - he does not consider a career in stand-up.

Douglas Morton, Lanark.

This is not healthcare

WITH the introduction of buffer zones outside abortion clinics, England is falling into line with trailblazer Scotland on that score.

Women can now go for their procedures safe in the knowledge that they will no longer be exposed to reminders likely to torment their consciences about what they are going to undergo.

Yvette Cooper's statement that buffer zones would protect women from the intimidation of pro-life protesters as they make their way to their health care appointments was a masterpiece of Orwellian speak. Intimidation in this context involves placards, leaflets and the rattle of rosary beads. Zombie knives they are not.

No doubt women wrestle with their consciences over the decision they are taking and feel some element of guilt in the process which protests aggravate, if they are visible.

A health care appointment generally revolves around investigating and relieving a condition which threatens the health of a patient. An unwanted growth which could be malignant would be one such threat. Unwanted a baby may be within a woman's womb and it is in a state of growth but it is not malignant.

Every abortion carries both physical and psychological consequences as a result of interfering with nature's programme for bringing a pregnancy to full term.

That happens with unwanted miscarriages and applies equally to deliberate terminations. Buffer zones will not alleviate those symptoms.

Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.

This cruel uncertainty

PRESS in the Middle East, including Reuters, have been reporting that on September 25, 88 unidentified bodies were found in a container on a truck that came from an Israeli-controlled crossing into Gaza.

The bodies arrived at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis with no accompanying data. There were no names, no ages, and no locations of recovery. The Ministry of Health refused to receive them and sent the truck back to the crossing from where it had come. More than 10,000 people in Gaza have been reported missing. Many are believed buried under rubble, but Israel has been systematically disappearing significant numbers of people. Without a body to mourn, many families find it difficult to process their grief. They cannot hold funerals or create a space to commemorate their loved ones, denying them closure.

Hisham Mehanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said international law mandates that those who have died during armed conflict be handled with dignity: “It requires that the deceased be searched for, collected and evacuated, and that all available information must be recorded before disposing of the dead. This ensures that people do not go missing." The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor strongly condemned the manner in which the bodies were delivered to Gaza, emphasising that Israel is obligated under international law and human rights standards not to mistreat the dead or their remains.

For the families, every day without answers is another day of suffering. The international community’s silence on the matter is deafening, and families are left grappling with uncertainty.

B Mckenna, Dumbarton.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Britain's last coal-fired power stationRatcliffe-on-Soar, Britain's last coal-fired power station (Image: PA)

A dream for China and Russia

THOSE who believe CO2 is destroying our planet must be happy to see the closure of the last coal-fired power station in Britain. No doubt further joy awaits when the activities of Just Stop Oil persuade yet another in the long line of our sappy UK governments to yield to their wishes, and we then move back to the cosiness of huddling round camp fires, using wood to make spears for hunting.

And, somewhere in the depths of Peking and Moscow, two world leaders talk, and congratulate themselves on the success of an industrial sabotage plan, that, beyond their wildest dream, is succeeding.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross.