Sir, – SNP party members are asking questions of Nicola Sturgeon as to why the Greens have so much new-found power as Cabinet members in the Scottish Government which is diluting the SNP impact and influence in Scotland.
It seems that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, are gaining much publicity and grabbing the headlines, leaving the SNP on the political back boiler.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon may well have to reel the Greens in as they are now in complete disproportion.
Dennis Forbes Grattan, Mugiemoss Road, Aberdeen.
Paying price of power-sharing
Sir, – An interesting take on fuel poverty by Kate Forbes saying, rightly, that the increases in energy bills will force many households into the fuel poverty trap.
She is claiming that the Scottish Government will provide help for needy households.
This help will inevitably rise further if the measures announced by her Green ministerial colleagues are implemented: The replacement of gas-fired heating, whether replacement is needed or not, with green solutions.
Not only is this going to be expensive in terms of the replacement but also running costs with electricity about four times the cost of gas.
Who will pay? Clearly the households will pay the higher running costs but the Greens seem to think that the taxpayer will stump up for the replacement heat sources – which means we all pay.
This SNP government speaks from both sides of their mouth.
M.J.Salter, Glassel, Banchory.
Welfare ‘cut’ fuels grievance culture
Sir, – The SNP are shouting about the removal of the £20 top-up of welfare being removed, a temporary payment put in to help over Covid.
Kate Forbes, questioned about the possibility of this payment being kept on in Scotland, said she couldn’t keep the payment without the levers of independence, but a week later she is talking of handing out heating payments due to fuel rises.
Surely this wouldn’t be available as she doesn’t have the “levers of independence” she needs to pay this with. What it does show is that Ms Forbes and her fellow SNP MSPs don’t really care about the universal credit payment when it’s good as a grievance and a headline grabber.
All of you who voted for the SNP and are not happy with this: You got what you voted for.
Ian Gray, Viewhill Cottage, Mosstowie, Elgin, Moray.
Robbing industry of COP26 business
Sir, – It often crosses my mind that politicians live on another planet but the Scottish Government appears not to be in the same universe.
Their latest hair-brained idea of households providing accommodation to COP26 attendees for a maximum of £20 per house proves the point. What do these politicians believe provides the funds for the state to make the environmental changes?
We need the hospitality industry to be thriving; hotels, B&Bs and food outlets need all the help they can get to help the economy recover.
These businesses contribute to the state by paying tax and rates. Our politicians should be encouraging us all to use local hotels and restaurants, not asking citizens to provide cheap accommodation.
Jane Lax, Pine Lodge, Craigellachie, Moray.