SIR, – The recent proposal to impose minimum pricing on alcohol is woolly-minded, ill-thought-out and reminiscent of the draconian post-war Labour administrations.
Backed vociferously by the British Medical Association, which is right to be concerned by the increasing damage alcohol is causing but wrong to involve itself in policy, the scheme seems to command the moral high ground.
It is flawed, nonetheless.
It assumes that the abusers will be deterred by the higher price, that they will not find other, less-expensive substances to get their kicks from, that this will instantly solve the problems of our binge-drinking youngsters, and that they will be able to fund the multitude of inspectors needed to prevent imports.
It neglects the decent members of our society on modest incomes who will be hit hard by the swingeing price rises.
It ignores the affluent, who will not be troubled by the rises and who will still be able to resort to alcohol to ease their tensions.
It is a form of prohibition and most of us know the disastrous failure that was. This is worse as it is a direct attack on the honest, hardworking majority of responsible people in Scotland who will, as usual, pick up the tab for the irresponsible minority.
There is a far simpler solution: introduce a drunk tank and a zero-tolerance policy. But I suppose that would infringe the drunks’ human rights.
John Rogerson,
Mill of Durno,
Pitcaple.
SIR, – Was it ironic or merely par for the course that the quango Scottish Enterprise announced a grant of £6.6million of taxpayers' cash to Barclays Bank to locate one of its operations in Glasgow on the day before Barclays Bank announced that the well-named Bob Diamond was to be its new chief executive with a pay package worth potentially £11million a year, and who is reported to have already amassed a fortune of £100million in his 14 years at Barclays?
Would Barclays really have located elsewhere without that sweetener? Are such grants not somewhat akin to the description by the late Professor Peter Bauer that development aid was “an excellent method of transferring money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries"?
John Birkett,
12 Horseleys Park,
St Andrews.
SIR, – In 1499, the Koran was burned in the public square in Granada, Andalucia, on the orders of Ximenez de Cisneros, archbishop of Toledo. A bonfire of 5,000 Arabic books, including texts of literature, were set alight and the Moors were made to watch this spectacle.
Some texts on mathematics and astronomy were spared for use by the Castillians.
A modern-day de Cisneros is planning a bonfire of Korans in a Florida parish on September 11. I would urge the pastor planning this act to consider the German poet Heinrich Heine's words: “Where they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn human beings."
I should add that, as a lover of books, I abhor any burning of the written word, regardless of the perpetrator.
Dr Izhar Khan,
Ferryhill Place,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – I refer to your story (September 6) headed “Estates accused over mountain hare death toll”.
The Hare Preservation Trust's views as reported do not take account of the wider moorland picture in Scotland.
The numbers taken appear large, but Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust research suggests it is sustainable as a proportion of the whole population.
It is important to note that, in Scotland, many moorland mountain hare populations are up to 10 times higher than anywhere else in Europe. This is due to estates’ control of predators and improvement of habitat.
It is noticeable that on Scottish hills where grouse management is not to the fore, hare presence is much more patchy, probably thanks to greater rates of predation, disease and poor food.
The Hare Preservation Trust's suggestions would restrict estates from managing hare numbers that the estate's own investment have conserved. Without the incentive to manage hare numbers there is little doubt that, in many cases, hare populations would ultimately be in worse shape than they are now.
Finally, it is legal and sustainable to take mountain hares in Scotland for sporting purposes; we hope that it stays this way for the good of Scotland's moors.
Dr Adam Smith,
director Scotland,
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust,
The Control Tower,
Perth Airport,
Scone.
SIR, – Now that the Scottish National Party has decided not to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in Scotland, why not hold one in England?
There could well be more people down there who would be only too pleased to sever Scotland’s link with England.
Brian Wilkinson,
4 Westburn Court,
Buckie.