It seems astonishing that John Swinney has complained to Scottish Power about its fuel-price hike when he knows full well that it is his Government s ludicrous renewable energy policy that is to blame (Swinney demands Scottish Power justifies huge price rises, Cover story, June 12). Its fanatical brand of on-shore and off-shore wind  religion  is funded by massive subsidies which all have to be paid for by the beleaguered consumers.  The Renewable Obligation Certificates and feed-in tariffs will continue to pour money into the pockets of landowners, the Crown Estate and greedy power companies for years to come, until Scotland is bristling with 6000 turbines and our electricity bills have trebled. By that stage the Scottish Government will have presided over the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in Scotland s recent history.  Moreover, with wind turbines only producing electricity for around 21% of their active life, Scotland will still need to build gas-fired power plants or import nuclear-generated electricity to provide base-load backup. What a shambles.  I hope Mr Swinney has the good sense not to express surprise or cast blame too widely when Scotland s tourist industry collapses because no-one wants to visit our vandalised landscape anymore.  Struan Stevenson MEP  European Parliament, Brussels  There is no doubt whatsoever that oil-rich Scotland is being dragged into unacceptable poverty by Westminster Unionist parties for being part of the UK. according to the Institute of Economic affairs, Scotland s debt is increasing year after year due to Westminster s poor running of our economy.  MSP Margo MacDonald said that Scotland had the highest income from oil in the whole of Europe, but it had been squandered by successive UK Governments for the past 30 years. One can only wonder how an oil-rich nation like Scotland can get into a debt of ?110bn while under the stewardship of Westminster.  It is quite obvious why Westminster wishes to hang on to us until the wells run dry. Norway has ?542bn in its coffers for the nation s future wellbeing, and is now considered the richest nation in the world. It is about time all Scots voted for freedom and become a nation to be proud of once again.  Donald J Morrison  Buckie  Your article on alex Salmond s referendum challenge to David Cameron (Come and have a go if you think you re hard enough, Politics, June 12) reminded me of the old New Labour anthem, Things Can Only Get Better. For Nationalists it is a case of: and how!  I watched Newsnight Scotland in amazement recently, as Gordon Brewer demolished Michael Moore s two-referendum brainwave. Unionism in chaos: it seemed too good to be true.  Now, however, we learn the boy David will be the Union s champion in the battle with the Goliath Salmond. This is a total mismatch: the biggest cost-cutting Tory since Thatcher against the most popular Scottish politician in modern history. I fear David will need more than a slingshot and a belief in God to topple the mighty alex.  Bill Cruickshank  Dinnet  IaN Bell has once again written a prescient article on an individual s right to die (Please can we let the Godless die in peace, Comment, June 12).  The living will is still not legally binding in Britain but surely it is not beyond the scope of the legal, medical and religious branches of our society to ensure that a person wishing an assisted suicide is not breaking the law, by assessing each request made by the terminally ill based on an unbiased view at the time of the request. It is irresponsible of the Government and religious groups to block this request, for it leaves the terminally ill patient, who does not have the necessary wealth to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, to die miserably in this country. It is interesting to note that a poll suggested that four-fifths of adults in Britain support the right to assisted death for the terminally ill. Why not make it an openly political decision at every general election?  Ian FM Saint-Yves  Whiting Bay, Isle of arran  I REaD with great interest Iain Macwhirter s column on aC Grayling s new  for profit  college (Fancy a PhD in Loadsamoney? Ker-ching!, Comment, June 12). He makes excellent points about the dangers of allowing our educational establishments to become even more the plaything of the rich.  a few weeks ago, the Sunday Herald broke the story of how  one of the best universities in the world    Edinburgh   has pocketed a cool ?1.7