Readers of the Press & Journal and the Evening Express discuss the issues that matter to them the most including wind turbines, airport drop-off charges and charity spending.
Out of step with Scottish spirit
Sir – Out of step and out of time. Those were my thoughts when I read Mr Lakin’s attempts (Letters, February 3) to excuse the naked greed and selfishness at the heart of the capitalist state in his response to Mr Petrie’s previous letter.
We know perfectly well that free enterprise can flourish without the excesses of lies, corruption and greed that our UK Tory leaders have demonstrated on such a regular basis in the last few years.
Scandinavia shows us the way forward again, with co-operative and caring society co-existing perfectly well with the entrepreneurial spirit. So away with your nonsense about authoritarianism and communist bogeymen, Mr Lakin.
There’s a good reason that Scotland has rejected the Conservative and Unionist Party for nearly 70 years – its values don’t sit right with us. Never more so than now, so maybe it’s not a good time to be talking about grudging paying taxes, sir.
I wonder if Ian was aware that there was a significant uptick in support for independence after viceroy Alister Jack’s petulant meddling in Scotland’s affairs last week.
Maybe not. Nor that my and Mr Petrie’s “brand of ideology” is broadly supported by the party that continues to dominate Scottish politics.
Thank you for your enlightenment via a Dickens quote, Mr Lakin, but I will stick to a Scot.
Burns said: “Dare to be honest and fear no labour.”
Peter E Smith, Aigas, Beauly.
Wind turbines are green disaster
Sir – We must not let ourselves be confused or blinded about controversies around wind turbines’ costs, “greenness” and usefulness. Mike Hannan (Letters, February 3), a supporter, fails to recall two of their many dire problems.
First, these windmills are not at all “green”, taking into account all the manmade carbon dioxide put out during manufacture using steel and concrete, etc, etc.
Secondly, their intermittency of operation and extreme variability of electricity output are “killer”drawbacks, which cannot be overcome.
Their adoption and continuation has been and remains a disaster.
Charles Wardrop, Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Airport not user-friendly
Sir – Aberdeen City are sending out a clear message that drivers and their cars aren’t welcome in the city.
With so many restrictions and high parking charges, I have now decided to shop in Aberdeenshire towns.
I recently parked for one hour in Aberdeenshire, for 50p. That’s the way to attract shoppers to spend their money and to keep the shops and retailers busy and happy.
I note with some disdain that Aberdeen Airport is to increase the “drop off” charge to £5 from next week for the privilege of using their access road for what is a couple of minutes to drop off a passenger.
This sits nicely with the questionable customer care of the obscure location for baggage reclaim at the airport and how they prematurely herd passengers into corridors for embarking only to have them waiting as nothing happens.
If the airport was to achieve true “international” status it would be a good start to consider how it can make using it a customer- friendly experience.
Dennis Forbes Grattan, Mugiemoss Road, Bucksburn, Aberdeen.
Holyrood no better than Westminster
Sir – Why do so many supporters of independence use the useless Westminster perception to justify change rather than extol the benefits that the Nationalist control of Holyrood has brought us over the last 14 years?
Perhaps the reason is because Holyrood have not shown any real evidence that they can or would do a better job.
NHS, education and emergency service are poorly supported, and their handling of finance is questionable to say the least, with the cash cows of the Fort William smelter and the CalMac ferries nothing to suggest capable governance.
Why trade one set of poor politicians for another? Why trade a Union where we have real input in the form of devolution for one where we will have little or no impact?
Walter Service, Fairview Manor, Aberdeen.
Housewives were childcare experts
Sir – There is so much truth in the statement from the Princess of Wales of “the critical importance of our early childhood” and that not enough attention is paid to how children’s first five years profoundly shape the “adults we become”, how the roots of adult problems such as mental health issues and addictions often stretch back into the early years of life.
She has omitted, as so many do, in my opinion an equally important problem – unacceptable behaviour.
Those are the years children begin to be taught acceptable standards of behaviour, the responsibility in years gone by of their parents, their father and mother being the role models.
Now, of course, for many, it is up to the state to provide this guidance, not enough support available being the complaint of those whose parental duties seem to end on leaving the maternity unit.
Children are a blessing, not an inconvenience secondary to a career. It’s worth sacrificing material possessions for the satisfaction of implanting in young minds standards of behaviour that will allow them to develop into decent, law-abiding adults.
How many young mothers today would proudly insert “housewife” in the occupation slot of their passport as my late wife and so many of our neighbours did 50 years ago?
They were the real experts in childcare, having the great advantage over academic specialists in the field, as it was their children they were caring for, dealing with the issues of growing children from nursery to secondary school, the pillar of the family, the fountain of advice and support, their guide to adult life.
To the detriment of all, society has changed. So many single parents struggling to do the work of two, housewife no longer regarded as proper work, mothers have to go out and earn money to maintain lifestyles.
I doubt if the princess or any of the sad people almost knocking each other over in their rush to be first by her side ever gave a thought to the expertise of this forgotten army.
The spate of vandalism in schools costing many thousands to repair, recently reported in The P&J, is a reminder of the tide of unacceptable behaviour by far too many of our younger generation, the corpse of modern childcare lying amid the wreckage.
Ivan W Reid, Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.
Appreciate the hard workers
Sir, – Ian Lakin versus Herbert Petrie re work ethics!
There is a lady I know very well who has worked for big projects. I worked with her a long time ago and know her motivation and ethic towards employment, commitment, punctuality and work.
At the previous and present places of work, she has been victimised by very lazy and incompetent people who have HR in their pocket and, it would appear, are jealous because of her dedication and commitment, feel she is a threat, so undermine her at every turn.
When I worked alongside her, she was committed, hard-working and always saw work to be done once she had finished her requirements. Why do people who have no real commitment or idea of the job GET employed? Because either they flatter the interviewer or lie. How shallow some can be!
Wake up Britain! See hard work and appreciate a sound worker.
She is very vulnerable and alone and approaching retirement in the near future, and feels she will be forced out.
Then, at her age, where does she get employment with wages enough to pay her bills?
So often we see this and I feel so sad that employers are either ignorant or inexperienced.
We should appreciate the hard-working, punctual and committed.
Sybil Wilkie, Mansefield Place, Banchory.
Charities’ reverse Robin Hoods
Sir, – The amount of charities struggling to send the amount of aid needed after the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Ukraine war, the conflict in Yemen and many more places, are still asking for donations of cash, and are being sent sums of between £3 and £20 from UK citizens and are helping.
But charities like Unicef, the Red Cross, Save the Children and more are having a hard struggle, while their CEOs continue to draw salaries of between £175 and £300 THOUSAND pounds per annum.
They are the “Robin Hoods” in reverse – robbing the poor to pay the rich.
Don McKay, Provost Hogg Court, Torry, Aberdeen.
Concentrate on the real issues
Sir, – At First minister’s questions last Thursday, Fergus Ewing highlighted the plight of around 600 small businesses which could face ruination if the ill-thought-out deposit return scheme was to be introduced this year.
He requested postponing the implementation of this programme due to its complexity and the fact that by non-registration into the scheme the company or companies concerned would not be allowed to sell their product in Scotland.
How totalitarian is this on the part of Holyrood?
One observer asked what would happen if all these firms refused to sign into the scheme, for which a registration fee is charged?
I am no great lover of the SNP but consider Mr Ewing an excellent MP who has a genuine interest in those affected by this unpopular proposal.
If only we had more SNP politicians who concentrate on real political issues unlike Natalie Don, SNP MP for Ayrshire North and West, who recently raised the question of posthumously pardoning those executed for being classed as witches in the 16th Century.
How inappropriate to raise this matter when there are far more important issues.
TF
Cross-party support for gender bill was not universal
Sir, – In his letter from February 6, Peter E Smith berates reader Pauline Eggermont for her views on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
In defence of this controversial piece of legislation, he reiterates the mantra that it was supposedly the most scrutinised and debated Bill passed through Holyrood, with a cross-party majority and many amendments to make it workable.
While it is true that the Bill was passed with votes from all parties, a more balanced approach wouldn’t have omitted the fact that there was also strong cross-party opposition.
If Mr Smith had been at the protest at Holyrood during the final debate of the Bill, he would have seen female SNP, Tory and Labour politicians united in speaking out against the GRR in its present form.
A look at the minutes of the debate would have shown him that votes on many amendments were by no means along the familiar party lines.
A prominent example is Tory MSP Russell Findlay’s amendment to prevent sex offenders obtaining a gender recognition certificate. It was narrowly defeated with 59 votes in favour, 64 against and 2 abstentions. Throughout the debate, there have been unlikely alliances across the chamber.
Most people would see the sheer number of amendments – 153 altogether – as an indicator that maybe the Bill didn’t receive all the scrutiny and consultation it deserved, despite all efforts.
To quote Ms Reem Alsalem, UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, who was heard by the Equality and Human Rights Committee literally at the last minute on the eve of the final debate: “A number of Scottish organisations have come forward and said that they have not been consulted. There have been victims (of sexual abuse/violence) who have said that they have not had access to the parliamentary committee, and detransitioners who have been asked to come in very late in the process.”
One wonders which criteria were applied when the committee – which is convened by SNP MSP Joe FitzPatrick and Greens MSP Maggie Chapman, both vocal proponents of the Bill – decided who should or shouldn’t be heard.
Indeed, the time and resources spent on the preparation and passage of the Bill don’t seem to have been spent efficiently enough. To quote from Ms Alsalem’s closing remarks: “If after six years there is still this level of polarisation and very strong feelings about the Bill, including people having feelings of exclusion regarding their points of view, I think that that is a reasonably good sign that work still needs to be done.”
Unfortunately, even in the light of the Isla Bryson case, the Scottish Government still doesn’t seem to be prepared to listen to such concerns or to concede that they were well-founded.
Neither Ms Eggermont nor any other woman in Scotland needs to be told by Mr Smith that elected representatives know better. In the case of the GRR, I can assure him that women won’t wheesht, not even for independence.
Regina Erich, Willow Row, Stonehaven.
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