Help The Aged.

Is Mr Smith the only one to be questioning what exactly is the point of the latest Scottish Government campaign which seems to focus on challenging stereotypes on age? Mr Smith's recollection may be getting hazy but aren't the laws in relation to employment and discrimination reserve to Westminster under the Scotland Act? So why is the Scottish Government spending £640,000 of public money on a campaign on issues it has no responsibility for?

"A CAMPAIGN has been launched to stamp out age discrimination in the workplace. A total of £640,000 is being spent by the Scottish Government on the See the Person, Not the Age initiative, which seeks to dispel stereotypes. The campaign will include television, radio, online and press advertising .."

One thing is for certain, as per other Scottish Government campaigns, it will have no effect and the public purse will be hundreds of thousands of pounds lighter.

On The Cheap.

"CELEBRITIES were urged to help promote Scotland for free amid claims that many demand "impossible" fees. Business and tourism chiefs called for well-known Scots personalities to get on board for the "greater good" and back attempts to attract the Scots Diaspora back home next year."

If the Scottish Government and its agencies choose to spend millions of pounds of public money on flashy campaigns promoting Scotland as a destination they should expect to have pay the appropriate fees if they want Scotland's stars to feature in them. It's a bit naive to expect them to do anything else. Would Members of the Scottish Parliament be happy to do their jobs for free?