It would be interesting to know what John Swinney’s Cabinet colleagues have done to merit an extra £20,000 on top of an already handsome salary ("Swinney insists SNP ministers’ £20k pay rise is ‘fair’", The Herald, April 15).

Has Neil Gray improved the Scottish NHS? Are GP appointments more accessible? Are those on long-term waiting lists of over two years for treatment less numerous? He already has expenses and a chauffeur-driven car on top of his ministerial salary of £126,452.

One could ask the same of Jenny Gilruth: are standards in schools reviving? Are rates of truancy and classroom violence receding? Under the stewardship of Shona Robison, are Scotland’s finances in better shape than formerly? Are the Scottish courts and prison service in better shape under Angela Constance? Is public transport more reliable and user-friendly in Fiona Hyslop’s hands? What on earth does Angus Robertson do other than post smug photographs of himself with SNP propaganda messages on social media?

All these people have done is give away our money as freebies to the affluent as well as the impecunious, without improving the services for which they are responsible. Has life in Scotland improved in any way during the rule of the SNP since 2007?

The answers to these questions clearly indicate that giving these ministers an extra £20,000 each is yet another SNP exercise in throwing good money after bad.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

• Kevin McKenna’s frenzied monomania over the SNP shows no sign of abating ("An extra £20K? Swinney is now surely trolling Scotland", The Herald, April 15). This time he shows his inner mill-owner vibe over a pay rise: “Whit? Yez hud a rise 16 year ago, an’ noo ye want MAIR”? Alas, Mr McKenna is no longer very funny or entertaining, an old Labour war horse out to pasture with nothing but pompous verbosity to give us.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

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What promises will we get?

John Swinney’s Programme for Government is to take place on May 6, he has proclaimed. What earth-shattering headlines will he make that day?

The lowering of income tax for workers? Don’t bet on it. The eradication of child poverty? That one’s a certainty as it has been every year since SNP the took over but has never happened.

The dualling of the A9? Another often-made promise but don’t put your money on that one either. How about another independence referendum? Now that would be a novelty, we’ve never heard talk of that before.

Getting tough on crime? No chance. Close the education attainment gap? Nope, tried that, gave up. Improve A&E waiting times? Yes he’ll promise that, but don’t expect it to happen.

Honest John has a hard task to complete his list before May 6, but he must know he can promise any old rubbish and thousands will believe him.

Ian Balloch, Grangemouth.

The damage done by UK Government

There were several reported stories last week that reminded us (if we ever actually needed reminding) of the continuing damage being done to the country by the fumblings of the UK Government.

Surely ministers must have been aware that there was a real danger of the Scunthorpe plant running out of essential raw materials and thus forced to cease operations? Instead, we have the unedifying site of a government desperately trying to source them. The Government has been forced to recall Parliament to push through emergency legislation. It is still not clear whether this is a first (very expensive) step to renationalisation or whether it is just buying time in the hope of the 7th Cavalry arriving. A report this morning suggests that government ministers may shortly be on their way to China to seek further investment. The heart sinks.

Following the lead set by Mrs Thatcher, the decision of successive Tory and Labour governments to privatise our public utilities and to sell off so much of our industrial heritage has exposed the country to the mercies of global capitalism and the whims of the market. We are reduced to being not much better than a third world country.

Part of the Scunthorpe problem apparently is the eye-watering cost of energy which of course affects every home and business in the UK. I can remember my dad being given a small phial of the first North Sea oil brought ashore in 1975. There was much talk then of the riches of Saudi Arabia being replicated in the UK. So where did it all go wrong – wrong to the ludicrous point where the energy-rich UK has the highest energy costs in Europe?

At the end of the war, my mum’s sister married a Norwegian resistance fighter who had come to Scotland on the Shetland Bus and moved with him to Norway. For years I can remember her sending parcels of food and clothing to her sister in Bergen because life there was such a struggle. How things have changed. Instead of selling off their North Sea riches, the Norwegian government sensibly set up the Norwegian Oil Fund which is now worth $1.3 trillion. On paper my Norwegian cousins are all millionaires.

So here we are in pretty desperate circumstances. Scarcely a day goes past without yet another public service having to deal with the consequences of enforced shortages. We have a Labour government cutting benefits and imposing a jobs tax because it lacks the will to tackle the gross imbalance of wealth that so blights our country. Unlike the EU, our Prime Minister shirks standing up to Donald Trump’s tariff threats and fails to condemn the continuing murderous onslaught on Gaza being carried out by Benjamin Netanyahu. And to round up a pretty miserable week we have Michael Gove and Alister Jack being elevated to the House of Lords. "Sic a parcel of rogues…"

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

Declare indy if  referendum denied

It is very clear that no matter what the opinion polls say or the result of Scottish Parliamentary elections, the UK Labour Government has clearly stated that it will not allow Scotland to have a referendum on independence. So how do we proceed?

Prior to the May 2026 Scottish Parliamentary elections, the SNP should specifically ask the UK Government, this year, that if the result is a parliamentary majority for independence a referendum be granted under the same rules as in 2014.

Should this be rejected, the SNP and other pro-independence parties should declare that a majority of pro-independence MSPs will lead to Declaration of Independence, with negotiations to follow to determine the details.

We are constantly being told that we live in a parliamentary democracy in the UK and that all that is needed to govern is the support of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons, not a majority of the popular vote. Let’s apply the same rules in Scotland.

Give the UK Government a simple choice in the event of a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament: agree to a referendum or Scotland will declare independence and seek international support based on the concept of parliamentary democracy.

Let’s go for it. What have we got to lose?

David Howie, Dunblane.

Ed MilibandEd Miliband (Image: PA)

Wake up to China threat

It really is now time for the Prime Minister to put Ed Miliband out to grass. Mr Miliband seems perfectly comfortable with the UK having exceptionally high energy costs with his zealous drive to net zero. He tweeted how delighted he was that  he had “sent a clear message to the world” having banned new coal mines. In what scenario does Mr Miliband believe the Chinese, amongst others, would accept his “clear message”?

China is currently building more coal power plants than the rest of the world combined, with 367 plants now in operation. The Chinese are building over 200 new airports. The UK’s contribution to global CO2 emissions stands at less than 1 % whilst Chinese emissions are 33%, USA 13%, India 7% and Russia 5%. The Prime Minister’s drive to accommodate China is further evidenced by the waving-through of the new Chinese “mega”-embassy in London and the UK Government’s naivety is demonstrated by the Treasury Minister James Murray’s comment that China is not a “hostile state” – this from a minister who will have been very involved in taking control of Chinese-owned British Steel. The Government must wake up to the threat China poses to any coherent industrial strategy developed by the UK Government.

Richard Allison, Edinburgh.

Revenge missions?

I wonder if the United States and China, respectively, with tariffs and industrial sabotage, may be seeking revenge on Britain for the Boston Tea Party and the Opium Wars.

David Hay, Minard.