The SNP’s proposal to ban families from adopting pet cats is proof that their priorities are now completely off the rails.
At a time when Scotland’s transport network is crumbling, healthcare services are stretched to their limit, and rural communities face rising costs, the Scottish government has decided to target kittens. You couldn’t make this up.
Instead of addressing real issues affecting Scottish families, the SNP is wasting time on a nanny-state crusade that would be laughable if it weren’t so out of touch.
Perhaps they should focus on getting ferries running properly before trying to regulate who can own a cat.
This kind of overreach is why more and more people are losing faith in their leadership. What we need are practical solutions, not pet-policing policies that serve as nothing more than distractions from their failures.
Alastair Redman
Port Charlotte, Islay
Trump is bad for business
The United States has, or had, a free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Ignoring that agreement, Trump has now unilaterally imposed tariffs on imports from both countries (“Mexico and Canada hit back with counter tariff retaliation as Trump sparks new trade war”, Sunday 2 February).
On this basis alone, the UK should not even start conversations about a free trade agreement with the United States until there is a new occupant in the White House – one who can be counted on to respect both the obligations and the mutual benefits inherent in a good free trade agreement.
Charles Wood
Harborne, Birmingham
It is noticeable that Buckingham Palace has not said anything about the United States wanting to change the head of state of a Commonwealth country (“Canada retaliates to trade war”, Monday 3 February).
Our lawyer prime minister has also failed to comment on the United States threatening two fellow Nato countries [Canada and Mexico] by breaking them economically and unilaterally breaching legally negotiated trade deals. Not to mention Donald Trump hinting at military action against two other nations [Greenland and Panama].
The patriotic “national sovereignty” brigade – the Conservatives and Reform UK – needless to say, are also strangely quiet on these issues.
I suppose saying nothing is better than taking a stand.
Iestyn Davies Jones
Leicester
Brexit could have been easily avoided
Your editorial concerning Brexit draws the wrong conclusion – that Britain should abandon referendums (“Five years on, Brexit is still the gift that keeps on taking”, Friday 31 January).
The 2016 referendum contained no constitutional lock. Nor did it specify what “Leave” meant. Those two mistakes arose because the United Kingdom has no written constitution, allowing every government to make the rules up and impose them using its majority.
It is a reasonable deduction that, had the single market been an option in a multi-choice or secondary referendum, it would have achieved a majority, since some electors would have believed the lie that Britain would stay in the single market but preferred to exit the EU political structure.
The rules governing UK financial services require all advertisements to be “clear, fair and not misleading”. It should also be a key requirement of the written constitution that is so sorely needed.
David Kauders
Zug, Switzerland
I realise the need, and indeed the desperation, post-Brexit, to secure trade deals with whomever we can.
But we must surely take into account the cost in self-respect – or am I being naive?
Carl Carlson
North Cornelly, Bridgend
Give us some credit, Barclays
Having screwed up royally, Barclays is now impacting a wider audience as the ripple effect of its tech outage at the weekend takes effect (“Disruption to Barclays services likely to continue following IT issues”, Sunday 2 February).
Early this morning, I went on my online account to catch up on payments that I had planned to conduct at the weekend, only to find I had missed the payment for my rent to my landlord.
I would love to go into my bank and sort this out in person, but Barclays have closed all their branches. The nearest one is now 17 miles away.
Andrew Davidson
Address supplied
Ofsted must improve
We haven’t yet seen the full details of Ofsted’s new school framework, but so far it seems to have missed the point (“New Ofsted report cards met by fierce backlash as it scraps single-word judgments”, Monday 3 February).
It isn’t the structure or the “rigour” of the inspection that matters, it is the workload distortion that takes teachers and headteachers away from their key functions; the disproportionate impact of what will always be a superficial snapshot in time; and the inadequacies of available, high-quality, consistent support to help schools improve.
All three need addressing to give any meaningful change, particularly the support, which should be collaborative and ongoing.
All three are critical elements of school improvement. All three appear to have been ignored.
David Lowndes
Soberton, Hampshire
Was Farage ahead of the curve?
The liberal EU that Rejoiners so desperately want the UK to be part of is rapidly ceasing to exist (“Britain’s EU reset needs bold thinking. It’s time Starmer threw his habitual caution to the wind”, Sunday 2 February).
Across Europe, with the Fidesz Party in Hungary, the National Rally in France, the Party for Freedom (PW) in the Netherlands, Vox in Spain, the AfD in Germany, and the Freedom Party in Austria, right-wing candidates are all succeeding at the ballot boxes.
Geert Wilders, Giorgia Meloni, Herbert Kickl and Jordan Bardella are the face of European politics today – all politicians of the Nigel Farage mould.
I care nothing for the man's politics, but it can be argued that the British politician who is currently closest to mainstream European politics isn’t Rory Stewart or Ed Davey, but Farage.
Given the state of European politics now, maybe he was ahead of the curve after all.
Des Brown
Newcastle upon Tyne
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