Taxpayers’ money isn’t a tap that can simply be turned on and off without a second thought, and the amount of public cash that has gone down the plughole in recent years is an absolute disgrace.
The botched prosecution of administrators involved with Rangers FC and the Ferguson Marine ferry fiasco are just two damning examples.
The public purse has lost hundreds of millions of pounds as a result, with little good coming from either.
Few people, if any, have been held accountable as the costs ballooned.
Now we learn that Scotland’s flagship recycling scheme could be the latest waste of public money.
The deposit return scheme has been shelved until at least 2025, meaning the company set up to run it now faces an uncertain future.
Circularity Scotland was previously handed a £9million loan from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Now Circularity Scotland is on the verge of collapse and the entire amount could end up being written off.
Meanwhile, a public inquiry into why the Edinburgh tram network cost so much time and money has become a scandal in itself.
After almost a decade and £13million spent, we still don’t have a final report or any answers.
Lord Hardie, the judge leading the inquiry, has earned more than £1million in the process.
We agree with progressive taxation – as does Humza Yousaf.
But Scottish taxpayers have to see value for their hard-earned money, not watch it being squandered away with no obvious benefit to the country and with even less accountability.
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