SIR, – Peter Fraser is right to highlight the exploitation of that loophole in the deer legislation which allows an occupier to kill out-of-season, heavily pregnant and recently calved hinds found on land enclosed merely by a stock-proof fence.
The idea of killing any pregnant female is considered beyond the pale by some, but this is inescapable if one accepts that wild deer populations need to be managed by shooting, and where controlling the number of breeding females is the key.
Hinds are pregnant for almost nine months until they calve in June, and thereafter, their calves are dependent on them for a further four months at least. Thus, a hind can either be pregnant or have a dependent calf at foot for more than a year. This leaves us with a problem.
The female close season starts in mid-February and ends in late-October – a compromise which leaves stalkers less than four months to tackle the most important part of the cull in difficult weather conditions, and results, inevitably, in some hinds having to be killed during the early stages of pregnancy.
Andrew Yool, Croy, Pluscarden, Elgin.
SIR, – It is obvious by reading your own comments, those of your leading writers and various politicians that a national alcohol tax is going to be difficult to implement. Although we all agree that something radical has to be done to protect our youngsters, we are going to find it extremely hard to change our national drink culture. Supermarkets and shops found guilty of breaking the law should automatically lose their licence, and some means of verifying a customer’s age will have to be adopted to safeguard the shopkeeper.
However, I have yet to see inebriated youngsters leave a supermarket or shop making noise, rolling about the streets, fighting, being sick and urinating on the pavements, as can sometimes be witnessed outside a pub or hotel on a Friday or Saturday evening. Publicans, politicians and licensing authorities are guilty of ignoring our “booze” culture and have been awarding too many licences, permitting the bars to be open all night and not prosecuting those found guilty of breaking the law.
R. Davidson,
Wynford, Ramsay Road, Banchory.
SIR, – I often wonder why Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling continually attempt to convince the electorate that the fuel crisis is “global”. Yet high-grade North Sea oil exported to the US and Canada can be bought at service stations in both countries at £2.20p a gallon.
It is quite obvious that the problem is the 60% tax and the 17% VAT taken at source by this government that is resulting in extortionate increases in food and heating which pensioners can ill afford.
The spiralling prices that we are forced to pay are causing an inflation nightmare for everybody with their knock-on effect.
Could Scotland be the only country in the whole wide world that does not benefit one iota from the “liquid gold” that is in abundance within its own territory?
Donald J. Morrison,
Haig Street,
Portknockie.
SIR, – If reports that Finance Secretary John Swinney is determined to cut down on bureaucracy and, in particular, the dead hand of regulatory bodies are correct, then this is highly commendable and overdue.
I am convinced that many aspects of the implementation of “child protection” issues and the regulation of charities under the regime of the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator, although well-meaning, are in fact harmful to the social fabric of the nation.
How difficult is it to get volunteers to help with children’s groups when, through each separate organisation, school, church, nursery, holiday club, Scout and Guide Associations, a “disclosure certificate” is required? In addition, health and safety guidelines and rules have become so restrictive that there is a reluctance to embark on any activity to which the word, risk, might be applied.
If the Scottish administration is serious about engaging with the public, let them listen to the views of the volunteers doing so much to fill the gaps in recreational, social and spiritual provision, and roll back the tide of red tape and, at the same time, restore the morale and confidence of the voluntary sector.
Hamish Mitchell,
Granville Place,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – It was encouraging to see the latest crime figures from Grampian Police showing good progress in crime clear-up rates, and some major successes with drug seizures proves more effective policing of our north-east community.
The problem facing the police in dealing with the growing drug problem is that for every dealer taken out of the chain, there seem to be another two ready to step in, and until we adopt a more progressive and radical approach in registering addicts and giving them safe supplies of drugs, we will continue to see the drug problem growing in our society.
Dennis Grattan,
Mugiemoss Road,
Bucksburn, Aberdeen.
SIR, – I think George S. Morrison (Press and Journal, June 25) deserves a reply to the points he raised. The amount allocated was £1,450, not £3,500. The quantity of Christmas cards was 3,500.
I cannot speak for other councillors, but of course I buy my own stamps – Christmas stamps to support the Post Office.
It was Labour members who asked for the £1,450 to continue to be spent in exactly the same manner. The committee did not support their amendment.
Councillor Jillian Wisely,
Aberdeen City Council,
Broad Street, Aberdeen.