Sir, – I was on Union Street last week and again I felt so glum,
The roads, the pavements splattered everywhere with chewing gum.
My heart sank at the mess as it really looks so sad,
Who are the folk that spit it out so careless and so bad?
Do they not care about what they do?
Don’t see the bins?
Our once silver city such a sorry mess
Think before you spit, mate, I ask you not in jest
Hopefully I truly wish the culprits will pay heed,
Stop this dreadful habit of spit on our roads and the street.
Please I plead with you for our city is in such a mess,
Help to clean it all up and help relieve the stress.
Grannie Annie.
Tory Government put damp squib on Hogmanay celebrations
Sir, – Another year and another struggle for some. While doing my shopping on Hogmanay, the supermarket was full of happy people anticipating the night’s celebrations. Many were chatting to me and wishing me a happy new year.
Who would think that the country was in a mess and there were people not as fortunate as us in the shops? It makes me think of others, something the Tory Government don’t seem to do.
They seem happy to say no to everything that might help the people. They are happy to stick to the pay review body recommendations and give MPs large increases each year but when it comes to nurses the pay review body must have somehow got it badly wrong. If this is the gold standard, the government need to get the review body to look again at pay in the NHS. Tell them to keep it in line with the percentage that MPs get and maybe some travel expenses to keep them in line with MPs.
No fair-minded person would disagree with that. If the country can’t afford it as the Tories say, then bring their wages down in line with nurses. But of course the country can afford it – a tiny increase in tax for those at the top and wiping out loopholes for tax avoidance for the super wealthy would be enough.
Herbert Petrie. Parkhill, Dyce.
Firm friends for 80 years and counting
Sir, – Re “Friendships that go distance are rarity worth celebrating” (The P&J columnist Alex Watson, December 30). She goes on to say the likelihood of a 50-years-and-still-going-strong friendship is low – but equally, having witnessed it, such a feat is possible.
My best friend and I can do better, if spared by the Grim Reaper for eight further months, when we will celebrate with a glass, that August morning in 1943 when we left our mothers at the gate and walked into the wee country school to begin the next chapters of our life.
Two laddies from farms in rural Aberdeenshire, now in our mid-80s, myself decrepit in body but thankfully not in mind, on the brink of 80 years’ unbroken friendship. Leaving school at 15 to work on the farms we began to enjoy the routine of life as “grown-ups,” dances every weekend, drummers in the Lonach Pipe Band, a dram or three or sometimes more. Romances flourished and died until we met the special girls who became our wives, who were also great friends.
Always more influenced by The Waste Land of T S Eliot than the sour land of our farm I abandoned life on the land, gaining education that allowed me to enjoy a fulfilling career in the developing NHS while my friend tended the animals on his farm.
Now separated by distance our families kept in touch, any major event being celebrated, until retirement rekindled the number of visits. And now living in solitude since the passing of my dear wife, our numerous phone chats are a comfort, and visits are as welcome as the sight of an oasis to the desert traveller.
Over our many years, the only disagreements I can recall were when the hormone-fuelled bravado of adolescence led to boasts of superior cycling ability and “anything I have is bigger than what you have”.
There is no big secret to our enduring friendship, we have always enjoyed each other’s company.
Good luck and health Tim and Dave, here’s to your next 30 years.
Ivan W Reid. Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.
No comfort or joy with festive buses
Sir, – Like around a quarter of Aberdeen residents I am reliant on public transport. First Aberdeen advised that a Saturday service would operate on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay, with services ceasing “around 9pm”.
Similarly, on Boxing Day and January 2, we were advised that Sunday services would operate, “from around 9am.” No specifics of actual first and last buses were provided despite the issue being raised on their twitter feed.
Since customer services were relocated to Leeds, information of services in Aberdeen has been scant. On Hogmanay morning, a serious accident closed Bridge Street (southbound) for 10 hours. While Stagecoach immediately advised of diversions to services, there was silence from First until 11am, when the matter was drawn to their attention. They then issued conflicting information, first saying the road was reopened, followed by a diversion was in operation via Union Street and Market Street for southbound service 12, but no mention of service 3, which follows the same route.
The days of calling the depot and getting factual information are long gone it seems. How anyone in Leeds is meant to know what’s going on in Aberdeen, when Aberdeen doesn’t tell them is a mystery. It’s high time someone ensured timely and accurate information was made available to the public. It shouldn’t be that difficult in these times of modern technology.
Ron Campbell. Richmond Walk, Aberdeen.
Incompetent SNP fail to heed history
Sir, – I wonder if Mr Petrie’s (Letters, December 30) memory could be a bit more open to the full roll of history at least as far back as 1707 when the original Scottish Parliament was closed, and a new united parliament of Great Britain was established.
Subsequently, a revised devolved Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. This limited the powers that had been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and clearly set aside specific powers which were retained by the UK Parliament. Surprisingly, Nicola Sturgeon and Co seemed blissfully unaware of the limits of these powers and even needed the UK Supreme Court to explain.
The Scottish Constitutional Convention played a significant and critical role in planning Scotland’s devolved parliament. Any such change relies on genuine good faith which has not always been evident, such as the establishment of phantom Scottish embassies which again are clearly precluded. The slow evolution of power has also been muddled and confused with political shenanigans notably by the initial intermittent presence of the two political parties, SNP and Conservative, being absent from the original convention. The direct accountability of the first minister to scrutiny in Scotland is clearly very limited with a very weak committee structure.
All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Fifteen years of total incompetence is very evident.
David Philip. Knockhall Way, Newburgh.
Scandal of giving honours to MPs
Sir, – The New Year’s Honours announced and still no letter in the post. But seriously, giving knighthoods to MPs and civil servants for doing just what they are handsomely rewarded for, both by salary and pension, makes my blood pressure rise to dangerous levels.
If honours be given, award them only to those who give of their own time and effort to improve life in their communities. They and their fellow volunteers are the true heroes, they do more to oil the wheels of their communities than any elected representative. MPs being knighted for being chairman of some committee or other is scandalous.
One is quoted as being “very shocked, I have no idea how this comes about.”. You’re not the only one, add me to the list.
Ivan W Reid. Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.
Learning from the past over China
Sir, – Not to be alarmist, there’s enough of that to go around, but I’ve been listening to the recent news on China reopening her border to the world after three years of degrees of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, even though it would appear a certain variant of the virus is still causing them problems.
In light of what the mega nation has already put the world through since early 2020, that began with their less than helpful approach to informing the outside world as to what they were dealing with domestically, the leaders of a number of countries are said to have announced that they intended to put border controls in place for travellers arriving from China, and rightly so.
Here in the UK, as I write this, we appear to be dragging our feet – what surprise! We have form, right? Back in March 2020, with the deadly virus already hammering through continental Europe, the UK Government, aided and abetted by the devolved administrations, sat on its hands and refused to control our borders, again, we’re good at that! As they say the rest is history, painful history I’d say.
So as not to make the same calamitous mistake twice, we should immediately put a specific lane in place at all our international airports, sea ports and single overland entry points for all persons entering our territory that have originated their travel in China, obligating them to take a Covid-19 test. Alongside this, we should set aside readily available quarantine accommodation or those who fail.
All travellers testing negative should be free to continue their travel, and those who don’t should go directly into quarantine.
The cost of all of this to be picked up by the traveller by way of a premium charge for tests, whatever the result, and for any resulting quarantine accommodation.
After all, our government is very experienced at attempting border control, and accommodating those who we all know shouldn’t be here!
Duncan Maclean. High Street, Invergordon.
West End was new-builds too
Sir, – So, the nimbies of West End of Aberdeen are objecting to a housing development near to them. They claim their doorstep is “no place for families in poverty”.
This begs the question: where is?
How dare these objectors jump to the conclusion that only those in poverty are troublemakers/lawbreakers.
If they choose to read the “in court today reports” in the papers they will see addresses from most areas (including where they live, no doubt).
As for resident Angela Campbell ascertaining that we do not need any new houses in the area, well, Angela, at one time your home was a new-build in the area.
All right then, now put the shutters up. But beware what you ask for. In these trying times perhaps some of them might find their West End mortgage unaffordable.
Attitudes like these are going back to the upstairs/downstairs times.
Michael North, Lang Stracht, Aberdeen.
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