WHAT ambition the UK Defence Secretary has (Anger as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon says UK arms sales could grow after Brexit, The National, September 14). He doesn’t want to be known for his peaceful overtones to the poor unfortunate smaller countries in the world, caught up in illegal wars by more powerful neighbours. He would much rather be known for making the UK the world leader in the manufacture and the selling of weapons to a buyer who can use them to rain down death and destruction on them, killing many innocent children.

How do you sleep Mr Fallon? This is not acceptable to me and I hope also not to the Scottish people. Is this the UK some of us want to remain part of?
Norman Henderson
Clydebank

IT’s painful to listen to Theresa May crowing in Parliament about high employment figures.

Yesterday, a friend of mine was telling me about her son’s pal who is working as a pool attendant. No basic problem there. That is until you learn that he has a good degree in a science subject and did not get into £60k worth of debt to do this type of job.

But he will feature in the “record” employment data that Theresa May is so pleased about.
Amanda Baker
Edinburgh

ROBIN Harding in the Financial Times yesterday complained about one of his boyhood idols, Warren Buffett, advocating that big businesses should do all they can to eliminate competition and to limit the amount of capital they have invested in their business.

Mr Harding concludes that such advice from such an authority as Buffett is destroying capitalism of the entrepreneurial, risk-taking kind.

Why he finds this surprising is surprising to me. After all, almost seventy years ago one of the greatest economists of the 20th century, Joseph Schumpeter, anticipated just such a development, with the emergence of mega-sized international businesses which would become so risk averse that in his words “they would kill capitalism”.

Schumpeter envisioned western economies evolving into a kind of social capitalism, with big business working with government to ensure economic stability and in particular to avoid risk, the very antithesis of innovative, wealth-creating capitalism.

We saw one aspect of such a regime quite recently, with banks that were “too big to be allowed to fail”. Whether such developments are good or bad, it is a matter of opinion. But I suppose we should be glad that someone in the media has finally caught on to what is going on, albeit a lifetime after it was pointed out by a real expert.
Peter Craigie
Edinburgh

THERESA May has made it clear that Nicola Sturgeon is on a different level to her and will not meet with her. Why, therefore, was Ruth Davidson invited to attend a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street along with David Mundell?

This surely is a further demonstration of the contempt that Theresa May has for the Scottish Parliament.
Mary Harkness
Selkirk

I HAVE just watched The One Show on BBC1. The programme this evening was on the subject of the number of teachers who are leaving the profession – in their droves – in England. The press is intent on making us think that this problem is peculiar to Scotland. Think on.

These teachers who are leaving were all based in English schools. I suggest that we stop crucifying the SNP over this problem, and have a close look at the attitude of parents, who are always ready to complain about teachers – but do little to inculcate a desire for knowledge in their children.
Margaret Sutherland
Stirling

SO according to Jackson Carlaw the SNP are “seemingly ever in want of a grievance” (Holyrood ‘at risk of death from 111 Brexit power grabs’, The National, September 13). And seemingly his Tory friends in their current Brexit power grab are ever keen to provide gratuitous and flagrant cause for such grievance.
Derek Ball
Bearsden