ANOTHER excellent and intelligent analysis of what is happening within the Labour Party from Cat Boyd (Corbyn has to win over his party’s careerists, The National, March 22).

It is telling in itself that Corbyn needs millionaires and her statements on Anas Sarwar are clarification indeed that the Labour Party is so far removed from its founding principles that it would rather rely on the support of rich career politicians than the sincerity and activism of us commoners it claims to serve.

What a hypocritical mess they find themselves in when their main role in Scotland has reduced to singularly criticising the SNP. The trust they once had is long gone. With the selection of Sarwar and the rest of the careerists looking for a list place, this trust will never return. Scotland is so politically and actively aware now that it is incredible and insulting to hear the same diatribe regurgitated time and again. Labour! We are on to you and have been since we saw those pictures of you hand in hand with Project Fear, now reduced to Project Smear.

What an overwhelming disappointment you have reduced yourselves to.

John McHarg
Yes2, Dunblane


Looked-after youngsters are Scotland’s future

I WELCOME with delight the announcement from the First Minister that every care-experienced young person who has the grades will be guaranteed a place in higher education alongside a bursary of £7,625.

Taking effect from 2017/18, this commitment comes on the back of the recommendations made in the final report from Ruth Silver’s Commission on Widening Access published on March 14 (‘System change’ needed to close university access gap, The National, March 15).

Who Cares? Scotland is a charity whose sole mission is to achieve equality for children and young people looked after by the state. We know that these children and young people, and their experience of care – whether that be social work involvement with their family, living with a relative other than their parents, living away from home with foster carers or in a children’s home – can affect their futures regardless of how short or long they experience care for. 85% of Scotland’s 16,000 children in care taken into care because of neglect, not because they have done anything wrong. However, sometimes this warranted intervention to keep them safe from harm means that later on in life they experience some of the poorest life outcomes in our country.

With only seven per cent going straight to university from high school – compared to 39 per cent of their peers – it is clear that education outcomes need to be better. It’s not that these young people aren’t capable or don’t have dreams about what they want to do when they grow up; it’s that somewhere along the way in their care experience, thoughts about their future are often outweighed by thoughts about their present.

Importantly, with this announcement, the Scottish Government has continued to listen to the views of care-experienced young people and Dame Ruth took on board these views when finalising the recommendations for the report.

The cross-party support for this is also admirable with Kezia Dugdale’s open letter to the First Minister following the report’s publication showing her party’s commitment to put politics aside for the benefit of these young people. Now we must work together with the next Scottish Government to get this implemented for 2017. This will include collaboration with the Students Awards Agency Scotland who would administer the bursary; and all those workers, carers and agencies around the care experienced young person whose role it is to help them achieve their dreams and ambitions for their future. I know that not having to worry about amounting huge levels of debt will go a long way to helping them realise their dreams.

I call on everyone in Scotland to do what they can to champion and care for these young people. These are Scotland’s children and they are part of Scotland’s future.

Duncan Dunlop, chief executive,
Who Cares? Scotland


WHAT a difference free bus travel, as proposed by Rise, would make to the quality of life for everyone in Scotland, and Carolyn Leckie is to be commended for such a compelling article on re-regulation. (Kezia’s bus scheme is cynical but worthwhile, The National, March 21).

However, I wonder if Carolyn is aware that if CETA (the first of a swathe of trade deals threatening to engulf us) is ratified, then it will become virtually impossible to bring services like public transport back into public control?

This is no fantasy. The text of CETA is online for all to see. The ratification process is due to begin on June 23.

Jean Kemp 
St Andrews TTIP Action Group


SO encouraging to read Kevin McKenna’s article about the sorry state of Police Scotland (It’s time for some real scrutiny of our police, The National, March 21.) The rest of us have little opportunity to be heard if we want to complain about a police force which quite clearly sees its primary purpose as upholding and defending the establishment.

Izzy Mac
Dingwall


IT IS a remarkable coincidence that all benefits are either at exactly the right level or else are too low, but never too high. How convenient for those who want to label any and all cuts as cruel and brutal “austerity” and all welfare reforms as heartless attacks on “the poorest”, “the most vulnerable” and “the most deprived.” Never mind that David Cameron’s government is actually trying to tackle a damaging and wasteful culture of dependency.?

Keith Gilmour
Glasgow?

??

WHAT is the point of sabotaging your daily crossword with at least one hopelessly obscure Scots word (hudgie-drudgie – I ask you...) which not one in God knows how many hundreds of thousands of Scottish citizens will have ever heard or understood in use (ie passive vocabulary), far less used themselves (ie active vocabulary)? This from a Yes voter with eyes fixed firmly on the road in front, as opposed to this petty distraction currently clouding the rear-view mirror.

Ian Duff
Inverness


WHAT will it take for Europe and the West to admit that we are at war with an ideology that is using all means to destroy our civilisation, including the Trojan Horse of immigration, asylum and sympathy? Sooner or later, the gloves must come off as the first duty of governments is the protection of their citizens. Preferably sooner, as things will escalate with no respite.

Doc, Glasgow