Is it any wonder people in UK don't want to move to Scotland?

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.

What happened to better days?

WAITING for the Budget from Chancellor Rachel Reeves is a bit like sitting in the dentist's waiting room unhappily aware that something unpleasant and probably painful lies ahead.

Ever since Labour swept to power in July it has been preparing us for this Budget with gloomy faces and assurances that it's going to be "tough". And Sir Keir Starmer is wielding the drill again, telling us that the UK "must embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality" ("Starmer: Budget will 'embrace harsh light of fiscal reality’", heraldscotland, October 28). There was no mention of "harsh light" just a few months ago when Sir Keir was waxing lyrical about the "sunlight of hope" shining in Britain, and ignoring the warnings of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who before the election claimed that neither the Conservatives nor Labour were being honest with voters about the economic consequences of their policy proposals.

Unashamed, Sir Keir promises us "better days" ahead, but the Emperor has been revealed in his new clothes and "better days" equates with "the cheque is in the post".

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

Confusion over working people

APPARENTLY hoping to curry favour with those it believes to be its core support, the Government has said that “working people" will be protected from tax increases in the coming Budget, but is tying itself in knots trying to decide who that term includes or excludes.

The use of the present tense in “working" rules out retirees irrespective of when they retired, or how long and hard they worked before retiring. Keir Starmer himself then fuelled the confusion by ruling out those living off investment income, and somewhat bizarrely landlords. Now Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who in that role must surely be well versed in the meaning of words, has said it means people “who go out to work every day", which rules out anyone who, with the encouragement of this Government, has chosen to work from home some days each week.

Good luck to the accountancy profession and HMRC when it comes to sorting it all out. Would it not have been simpler just to raise at least the lower tax band(s) a bit, a move which most will agree is long overdue?

Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

Read more letters

• Can this really be Labour acting this way over Israel? Shame on them
• Reparations? The world owes plenty to the British Empire

Careful, you could get Farage

MANY people thought that a shallow clown like Boris Johnson would not become Prime Minister and many people still think that a more artful joker like Nigel Farage could not become Prime Minister.

Understandably those who wish to deny the people of Scotland the right to self-determination will claim this will not happen, seemingly blissfully unaware that to a large extent Mr Farage is already directing the United Kingdom, including Scotland. Not only has Brexit been achieved, but a hard Brexit at that. The British Establishment, even with a Labour Government in power at Westminster (albeit with only the support of 20% of the electorate), will continue to obscenely accumulate even greater wealth while increasing numbers will sleep on our streets and rely on food banks to survive. Mr Farage’s influence on the Conservative and Unionist Party is already evident as both remaining leadership contenders, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch, are on the right wing of that party, and that influence will continue to grow going forward with increasing pressure to withdraw the UK from the ECHR.

In opting to reject constitutional reform, whether independence or possibly federalism, those who argue against self-determination and a civic nationalism are in effect promoting a Brexit Britain that is increasingly likely to be led by a charlatan with sinister intentions reflecting a lack of belief in common humanity. This is not the future most Scots wish for their children.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

Nigel Farage (Image: BBC)

Some balance on slavery

WITHOUT for one minute wanting to minimise the horrors of slavery, I would urge those clamouring the loudest for financial reparations to be paid by Britain (Letters, October 25 & 26) to engage in some serious research. They could start with the recently published book An African History of Africa (2024), written by the broadcaster, journalist and filmmaker Zeinab Badawi, President of The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The book is well written and has been constructed from an impressive programme of research, field work and interviews.

In her chapter entitled "The First Enslavers" the author makes the point that over the centuries of Arab involvement with Africa, a staggering 18 million Africans were enslaved by the Arabs. Furthermore, she writes that most of these unfortunate victims were seized and sold by their fellow Africans. Ms Badawi writes that "the participation of some Africans in the trade of enslaved people is a topic most people across Africa find difficult to comprehend" adding that "there has been little if any discussion in Arab countries on the subject". She concludes by stating that Africans and Arabs are in effect in denial over their involvement in the horrible trade in human misery. Of course, we must not forget that Africans were also involved in the capture and sale of the some 12 million of their fellows who were transported to the Americas. Surely then the Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean should be looking for redress from the countries of western Africa as well as from the UK?

Another important source is the book White Gold by Giles Milton in which he describes the fate of the one million white Europeans sold in the slave markets of North Africa. These unfortunates had been seized from the parts of Europe, such as the Balkans, occupied by the Turks or captured by the marauding Barbary pirates who terrorised the coastal towns of Europe. Amongst those seized would have been Scots who would end up as galley slaves, forced labourers or in the harems of their captors. One of the worst reported corsair attacks happened in June 1631 when the Irish town of Baltimore was sacked and some 200 citizens seized. Only three ever found their way back to their homeland. Should we then be seeking reparations from the North African Arab states?

Rather than indulge in a futile debate about financial restitution for perceived historical crimes, surely the matter can be best resolved by an honest acceptance of wrongdoing by all of the countries who were engaged in the slave trade?

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

Keep these two statues

I WOULD take issue with Kate Phillips' denunciation of two statues in George Square, those of Sir John Moore and Colin Campbell (Letters, October 28).

The former was an outstanding soldier in the Peninsular War whose tactical retreat to Corunna saved the entire British army. If he had failed then the Duke of Wellington would not have been crowned with a traffic cone outside a Glasgow museum.

Educated at The High School in Glasgow he swiftly rose through the ranks to command the army in Spain, and found himself leading a much smaller British army, against a larger French army, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the world's leading military tacticians, who said of him: "His talent and firmness alone saved the British Army in Spain from destruction; he was a brave soldier, an excellent officer and a man of talent/"

Today he is perhaps best remembered as to how he was buried and still honoured in his grave on the outskirts of Corunna, thanks to Charles Wolf's poem: "They buried him darkly at dead of night" ...

Colin Campbell was also educated at The High School of Glasgow, becoming a peer of the realm, and served both in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny achieving high military rank. I cannot find any reference to the two memorials "being financed and given pride of place by Glasgow's grateful slave merchants."

There is no doubt that Glasgow benefited from the exploitation of slave labour, as did townships in Rome, France, Spain, in their day. It is seemingly fashionable to continually berate our ancestors, without also acknowledging the fact that as economic and social moods changed we were at the front of trying to put an end to the practice.

Robin Johnston, Newton Mearns.