KENNY MacAskill’s article concerning the need for an energy social tariff provided the backdrop for the argument to be taken to Westminster. His description of “needs must” covered so many aspects and situations, from dialysis users to using a microwave to heat up a family meal. He also highlighted Scotland’s green energy supply as being in a land of plenty but untouchable by its occupants.
It certainly is ironic and a paradox, as Kenny puts it, that, as another winter approaches, there is still not enough being accomplished to parallel the energy payments of a year ago to help mitigate the cost-of-energy increase we all experienced and will again this coming winter.
READ MORE: It's time to push for an energy social tariff for the benefit of all
The Holyrood government does not possess the power to help households that can ill afford to provide sufficient warmth this coming winter.
The Westminster government has developed a reputation of sitting on its hands rather than dealing with any looming domestic crisis. Only when the crisis actually happens, such as that relating to the concrete used for schools and other public buildings, will it remove one hand at a time to attempt to rectify these situations.
The cabal that is the UK Government has only been concerned with making money for itself, with absolutely no social policies to assist the population it is supposed to represent. That is not the Tory way and never has been.
Even if the current UK Government loses power at the next election to the UK Labour Party, it would seem that the status quo will prevail, thus providing no relief for Scotland.
I can only hope that the Scottish voter will return an SNP government at our next election, whether in a majority or not, in order to continue to support our need for an independent country and nation, and now as quickly as is possible.
Scotland has waited for too long since 2014. Saturday’s Edinburgh march displayed that Yes is still very much our status quo. With around 50% of the nation, give or take, still in support of an independent country, surely a vote/referendum would produce a comfortable majority vote.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
I AWAIT as cruel winter looms,
and worry how I’ll heat my rooms;
I shall be devoid of the cash,
to feed my boiler with the gas.
I oft shall sit in the candle light,
wrapped up and yearning for the night;
to lay beneath my sheets and sleep,
until tomorrow, when again I’ll weep.
When daylight breaks, a cup of tea,
warms my heart, brings some glee;
did I work hard for all those years,
to sit here cold, shedding tears?
I worry now , should I heat or eat?
a round of toast sounds like a treat;
as I sit and shiver, brave the chill,
the postman drops me another bill.
As frost adorns my window panes,
and coldness flows through my veins;
death seems such a sweet release,
chasing worries and bringing peace.
George Robertson
Edinburgh
STEPH Paton’s excellent column in Monday’s National points up the frightening and ever-expanding gulf between the wealthy and the rest of us (In a fairer world, people wouldn’t have to rely on whims of rich in a crisis). Apart from taking advantage of the supine UK population as a whole (we in Scotland are not blameless), the wealthy elites tirelessly look for ways to sell the grossly unfair status quo to us as somehow democratic.
They must have been overjoyed when the Berlin wall came down, and subtly equated the new orders in eastern Europe with the notion that socialism is a bad thing, while capitalism (a word they take care not to use very often) is good.
READ MORE: Steph Paton: We shouldn't have to rely on the whims of the rich in a climate crisis
It’s surely no coincidence that the break-up of the Soviet bloc and the attendant political machinations here led to the furtherance of policies born in the Thatcher years – dilution of workers’ rights, anti-trades union legislation, low wages and short-term contracts, all bearing fruit now in the massive inequality described by Steph Paton.
The wealthy, be they royalty, fat-cat bosses or simply corrupt politicians, are smart and vigilant, constantly working behind the scenes to ensure nothing changes.
These are devious people – even the pathetic schoolboy antics in the House of Commons are carefully choreographed to turn off potential voters from engaging. A voting turnout of 30-40% of those eligible suits right-wing parties down to the ground. They fear the day that working people wake up and vote en masse. We’d never see another Tory government if that happened.
Jim Butchart
via email
I HAVE come to the conclusion that George Foulkes’s rabid anti-independence rants should contain a conflict-of-interest disclosure. After independence, Foulkes and the rest would lose their places at the House of Lords gravy train. They are self-serving, greedy individuals protecting their income.
Rab Doig
Bo’ness
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