Readers on the challenges facing Scotland and its new first minister
Dani Garavelli’s piece on Humza Yousaf’s election massively overstates the difficulties that the Scottish National party government finds itself in (The SNP was already clouded by failure – under Humza Yousaf it could lose power altogether, 27 March). A largely popular, relentless election-winning machine has already survived the unionist mud-slinging on the NHS (where, despite the challenges of Tory austerity and Covid, waiting times are much better than in the rest of the UK) and corruption, where the badly managed ferry contracts and party funds issue have been blown out of all proportion (and pale into insignificance compared with the UK government’s corruption and incompetence, which attract far fewer column inches).
Limited progress on, for example, child poverty has to be seen against the backdrop of a much worse situation elsewhere in the UK. The SNP government has largely played a terrible hand pretty well to mitigate most of the evils sent from Westminster, and has been rewarded with victory after victory at the ballot box. While there are undoubtedly challenges for Yousaf in matching the huge success of his predecessor, things are nowhere near as bleak as this piece portrays.
Chris Clipson
Edinburgh
