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Regarding the front page article in Scotland on Sunday, “Courts face massive rise in the most serious cases” (26 October), the cause is apparently the lack of facilities as trials more than triple. Less than ten years ago approximately 50 per cent of courtrooms in Scotland were closed down, not a wish of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service but a decision imposed by the Scottish Government. Pure incompetence, which is a regular feature of this government. To add to that, prison places in the country are woeful. Early release to ease pressure does not work, as a large percentage of those released end up back inside. The new Barlinnie needs to be twice the current size, rather than having just a few extra cells – sorry suites. But then again, the initial building costs have risen significantly, as the new parliament did, as Edinburgh’s trams did, and let’s not forget the ferries. This government needs to get to grips with leading this country and look to the needs of the country rather than dealing with vanity projects and wasting public monies on things such as Lorna Slater’s bottle disposal scheme, which they knew would never get off the ground but cost the taxpayer, or will still cost us, tens of millions. Michael Fraser, Tullibody, Alloa Shrinking minds Tim Flinn suggests ending school holidays and keeping schools open for longer, given the cost to the taxpayers for public buildings (25 October). I would be inclined to agree with him, if only to get better value for money from all public buildings. However, a few hours watching TV quiz shows such as The Chase and reading some of the letters in newsprint makes you wonder if today's schools are educating pupils at all… history/geography/science and general knowledge are definitely not being taught. Most importantly, the difference between facts, theories and misinformation, and how to identify which is which, has completely escaped generations. A spot of detention involving writing the lines: “I must not believe anything I read on social media without checking facts first” might be a good start. Steve Briers, Sheffield No shame? Regarding your report: “NatWest ‘proving the doubters wrong’ as profits jump almost a third to £2.2 billion” (25 October). No wonder NatWest/RBS is “in a sweet spot”, to quote one financial adviser, with “the government shackles gone” and holding “prodigious amounts of cash”; while the CEO boasts of a “strong performance underpinned by the continued support we provide to customers” – but he expresses no gratitude, at least in press reports, for the bank’s continued support from the public purse. The “shackles” were the UK government’s RBS shareholding, arising from its £45 billion bail-out in 2008 deemed necessary to avoid RBS’s formal bankruptcy. The remaining shares were sold in May 2025, but left us taxpayers still bearing a loss of no less than £10.5bn from our bail-out. As my letter on 27 June said, why on earth should we all have to bear that huge loss, particularly at a time of severe pressure on public funds; surely it’s a “no-brainer”? Do the current CEO and Board feel no moral obligation to accept that liability caused by the incompetence, vanity and greed of their culpable predecessors (who swanned off into the sunset with vast bonuses and pensions intact)? Why has there been no condemnation, or even much debate, if any, by MPs and MSPs in parliament and by journalists in the press? John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife Age of Beige As he cooks pie in the sky from Plaid Cymru's Caerphilly by-election win to Wales' Senedd, (Letters, 25 October), Stan Grodynski omits to mention the supreme irony that it was due to loaned Tory, LibDems and Green voters, terrified their streets would be swamped by aged angry pub dwellers tying Union Jacks to their lamp posts in between eating chips if the “New Kippers” won. PC, like the SNP before them, has become part of the Establishment, and the Establishment looks after its own. Mr Grodynski also says Farage's Reform UK had targeted it as a “must win seat”. Why would they care that much about a seat for something they intend to abolish as a giant waste of money if Farage makes it to No.10? All Caerphilly did was encapsulate an electorate's fickleness in an Age of Beige as an esurient mandarin class cares only for avoiding their own defenestration to the politics of Arthur Daley. Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire Inn-credulity Stephen Jardine is mistaken if he believes the Premier Inn price promotion of £40 rooms, especially in Edinburgh, which is often more expensive than central London (Perspective, 25 October). I’ve rarely found a Premier Inn in Edinburgh at less than £100 a night and indeed, I recently saw, outwith festival time, the branch in Princes Street at a whopping £230 a night. Good as Premier Inns are, especially compared to some of the ghastly places Stephen describes, they’re frequently a world away from the £40 rooms. Stuart Neville, Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire Skills grave No matter the inevitable spin put on it, the simple fact is that 300 foreign welders were required and hired by Babcock because there were no qualified Scots available to complete the order for foreign warships. Cutbacks in college budgets and, worse, the failure to invest in a new specialised welding training centre were to blame. Considering Scotland's shipbuilding heritage this is little short of criminal. What makes it even more so is that the main reason appears to be reluctance from the decision-makers in the SNP to invest our money in anything that could be connected with the defence of our country. There will be a few graves rumbling in various graveyards throughout Scotland. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh Write to The Scotsman We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to lettersts@scotsman.com including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line – be specific. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.
