Scot free

Sir: In last week’s piece on the SNP, Fraser Nelson was critical of the Covid scenario in which ‘civil servants were enlisted in the SNP secret state’ (‘The Covid clan’, 27 January). Fraser makes comparisons with Whitehall but fails to ask the obvious question: is the Scottish model preferable, where the civil service and state media join a ‘mafia’ run by elected politicians? Or is Westminster governance since 2010 better, where the elected government pontificates and the civil service, quangocracy and state media continue to do what they like?

Now Nicola Sturgeon has time on her hands, perhaps she can...