Sir, – The argument rolls on in regard to the closure of the central part of Union Street to vehicular traffic.
Although well intentioned, the fact is that there is no alternative route with the dimensions to handle the displaced traffic.
It should, at the very least, be reopened to buses and taxis at the earliest opportunity.
Ron Campbell, Richmond Walk, Aberdeen.
SNP’s failure writ large with Cambo
Sir, – Alex Neil highlights the SNP’s failure at “spelling out in detail the answers to questions on currency, economic policy, the oil and gas industry, and our trading relationships”.
Is this failure clearer anywhere than in the SNP-Green government’s stance on the Cambo scheme, which risks precipitating the failure of the development – jeopardising thousands of Scottish jobs – and brands those with a more rational approach as members of the “hard right”?
Sturgeon’s abandonment of the oil and gas industry in the North Sea will not reduce domestic demand for oil by even one barrel, instead simply increasing our dependence on imported fossil fuels. This is virtue signalling at its most blatant, but far from being meaningless it will have dire consequences for Scotland’s economy and future place in the world.
Caleb Whiteside, Rocksley Drive, Boddam, Aberdeenshire.
Clootie trolls show anti-English hate
Sir, – I remember my grandmother making clootie dumplings at Christmas.
As a child you didn’t think about the fact that they are Scottish and that the word cloot comes from the Scottish for cloth.
It is something to be very proud of and I can imagine when the owner of the Clootie McToot Dumplings bakery was asked to attend a UK Government food event in Downing Street, she must have quite rightly been proud to do so.
Social media trolls, however, took exception to the photo she posted, showing her presenting one to Boris Johnson. What followed was hateful, threatening and frightening.
Many commentators took to social media to say it was just a clootie dumpling but it was much more than that.
This had nothing to do with the product. This had to do with nationalism, hate towards someone who associated with the UK prime minister – hate towards all things English.
The SNP politicians can claim they do not promote anti-Englishness but their supporters do. If this bakery had attended an event in Cardiff or Belfast or any EU country, we would not have seen this outburst of hate or the cancelling or orders. The SNP need to take ownership of this behaviour and condemn it.
However, the silence from the governing party is deafening.
Jane Lax, Pine Lodge, Craigellachie, Moray.
Greens are the tail wagging the dog
Sir, – Congratulations to columnist Chris Deerin.
He expressed my feelings about the Greens’ gruesome twosome who have been shoehorned into ministerial positions by Sturgeon in order to gain a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Government.
The Greens didn’t get any directly-elected seats in the election but they are the tail wagging the dog and are virtually running the country – a dangerous situation indeed.
Alan McPherson, Grant Street, Cullen.
