AS university fees rise in England by 3% for the first time since 2017, John Swinney pops up in a video on X gleefully reminding us that no one pays university fees in Scotland.

Of course, though, under the SNP, all taxpayers are, in fact, paying university fees for every Scottish student, irrespective of parental ability to pay. So for example a childless person in Dundee earning £30,000 is subsidising someone from Edinburgh earning £100,000-plus who has a child at the first-rate University of St Andrews, perhaps having previously paid school fees at one of the city's excellent independent schools. Is this right?

In an ideal world, every public service would be free, from buses to council car parks to garden waste collection and, yes, to university tuition. But we don't live in an ideal world. University fees should undoubtedly be subsidised by the state, ensuring access for all, using means testing, and according to ability to pay: unlike now in Scotland, where the less well-off subsidise the better-off.

Martin Redfern, Melrose.

Private schools are businesses

A BUSINESS makes profit by selling goods or services and pays VAT accordingly. VAT is a major source of tax revenue in most countries. Private schools are businesses which sell education and make a profit by doing so (Letters, November 5). Despite their well-orchestrated publicity, they are simply one type of business.

Peter Dryburgh, Edinburgh.

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Assisted dying has failed elsewhere

TWO letters in Friday's Herald (November 1) touched on the theme of end of life care, but from different perspectives.

First, Amy Dalrymple of Marie Curie Scotland pleaded for proper funding for palliative care in hospices, where patients receive real dignity in dying. I completely agree with her on this.

The other letter, from Doug Clark, seemed to say that those who oppose the legislation being proposed, either in Westminster or Holyrood, are "fixated" on the areas which concern them. Regarding the "slippery slope", that terminology suggests there's a bit of guesswork as to what might happen if this legislation came about. That is not true. The issues being raised are already fact in some of the countries which have introduced assisted suicide/dying legislation. Mr Clark really needs to do a bit of homework to see that the safeguards which we are told will be put in place are not worth the paper they're written on, once this becomes legislation.

Two of his "over-riding principles" are "the obligation to help others achieve their potential" and "do no harm". In both these principles, legislation on assisted dying in Canada has failed spectacularly. Check out "Better off Dead?" on BBC iPlayer, by disabled actress Liz Carr.

Eileen McCartin, Paisley.

The pitfalls of electric vehicles

THE UK boss of Polestar suggests that more government support and public exposure to electric vehicles is required as the company tries to increase its share of the UK market ("More government support and public exposure to electric vehicles is needed, Polestar UK boss says", The Herald, November 4).

Despite playing down a limited charging infrastructure, range anxiety and plugging Google Maps' ability to plan charging on a route, he does not expose the biggest negative of these cars, their resale value. Tesla will not accept their own cars as a trade-in, owners who took out large car loans now find themselves in tens of thousands of pounds of negative equity.

The eyewatering depreciation is money removed from the economy forever and we are talking billions.

A replacement battery will set you back the thick end of £20,000 and the wait for said battery is currently months. Spares and body parts for accident damage are like hen's teeth, as are the garages to source and fit them.

But apart from that, electric vehicles are great.

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.

Drivers need to be supervised

SO now we know: many drivers are just like school children; they can only behave when teacher, in this case Police Scotland, is watching (“Concern over impact after ‘reduction’ in road policing”, The Herald, November 5). Left unsupervised, it's foot down to get that traffic light before it goes red, on with the loud music and out with the cup of coffee and slice of toast that there wasn't time for before leaving home for the freedom of the road.

Patricia Fort, Glasgow.

Another tale of ferry woe

REGARDING the two letters on the subject of the unreliable service offered by CalMac (November 4), I wrote some years ago and said that when I was young the summer sailings went from Ardrossan and the winter sailings from Fairlie; those were the days when you could rely on the ferries to and from Arran. On Monday last week I travelled on the 8.30am Alfred from Troon, returning on Tuesday on the 3.30pm from Brodick to Troon. No problem you may think, until we docked in Troon at 4.40pm; we eventually left the ferry at 6.45pm because the ramp had jammed.

What can go wrong next?

R Allan Richardson, Beith.

A Polestar electric carA Polestar electric car (Image: PA)

Take a leaf out of our book

IN the tree-dense area of Merchiston in Edinburgh, there has been for many years now a quietly successful leaf-clearing initiative ("A question for every Glaswegian: would you pass the leaf test?", The Herald, November 4).

This was initiated by and involved residents, volunteers and the community council co-ordinating with City of Edinburgh Council.

Black bags, and anything else required, are dropped off at various requested locations, bags filled and left on the pavement, council contacted re location for uplift and then collected.

Result: pavements safer for pedestrians when wet and icy, gutters clearer.

Morag Jones, Edinburgh.

Simple is complicated

MAY I reach out to JB Drummond (Letters, November 5) in his quest for simple communication and composition?

Any such quest must be prudent and proportionate, not a key driver for change, and neither unequivocal nor exponential. I may be accused of virtue-signalling or navel-gazing, but it's the right thing to do going forward, part of the culture war.

Difficult decisions were made before composing this letter.

David Miller, Milngavie.