Letters
Double speak
Alex Salmond seems to present a contradiction between his words and his government’s actions.
1 commentProper grammar
Grammatical standards have slumped in the face of today’s view that it matters not how anything is said as long as it’s understood.
Banner banned
The Olympic rules say that only the flag of competing countries can be flown at Olympic venues.
Food for thought
Stephen Jardine must agree that the educational benefits of taking children to proper restaurants from an early age must not be overlooked (Comment, 26 May). Experience and habits formed early in life are the most enduring.
Beyond belief
With disbelief I watch, Alistair Darling, Labour’s last Chancellor of the Exchequer, having the gall to berate the Scots and Alex Salmond, in particular, for pulling the trigger on the starting pistol on the campaign to seek independence.
Lost opportunity
Gordon Casely (Letters, 26 May) is right to highlight the woeful inadequacy of the diesel trains used by ScotRail for long-distance journeys.
Nul points
Yet again Britain is humiliated at Eurovision. The time has come for the BBC to stop the bleat that every nation hates us and all the voting is political for that is simplistic nonsense.
Action is needed
In THE latest outrage in Syria there have been over 90 killed including 32 children in a residential area, in what can only be described as a massacre.
Yes camp fails to follow its own line
So, THE much-heralded great launch of the SNP’s Break-Up-the-UK campaign was by all accounts an amateurish flop. That appears to the verdict of your commentators, your cartoonist (26 May) and most other media comments.
Come what May
The Home Office is planning for a possible large increase in immigration from Greece and other European Union nations. (Your report 26 May).
Sound as a pound
Gerry Hassan derides “three decades of market fundamentalism across the West” (Opinion, 26 May).
Grim progress
Craig Brown’s General Assembly article (your report, 26 May) regarding the high cost of insuring churches sheds a spotlight on one of the many problems regarding buildings which generally were built using the technology and to meet the needs of around 150 years ago.
Letter: Minority report
THIS week Edinburgh saw the annual assembly of the Church of Scotland.
4 commentsLetter: Hunger genes
TO ADD to Katie Grant’s points on obesity in Scotland (Perspective, 25 May), the 1970s probably marked the first time that everyone in Britain had enough to eat. Food shortages were widespread during the Second World War, and rationing continued into the mid-1950s.
3 commentsLetter: Grand parents
AS JOHN Deighan, of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, wrote (Letters, 25 May) “there is a concern for children when the relationship of their mother and father has broken down”.
11 commentsLetter: Blind justice
Brian Wilson’s robust defence of the Scottish legal system in the context of the Lockerbie verdict (Perspective, 23 May) reflects a heady mixture of novel, curious and ultimately untenable theories as to why the verdict is “unassailable”:
3 commentsLetters: Broken English
ANNE Hamilton (Letters, 24 May) bemoans the fact that doors remain closed to young people “who can only express themselves in their mother tongue”.
3 commentsLetter: Wrong target
THE Scottish Government is in real danger of forcing wide-ranging and unnecessary legislation on low-powered airguns on law-abiding shooters due to the criminal actions of one individual (your report, 25 May).
1 commentLetter: Theatrical exit
So Vicky Featherstone has quit the National Theatre of Scotland to go to the Royal Court.
Letter: Diesel challenge
BURIED in paragraph 106 of this week’s long-awaited report by the Scottish Parliament infrastructure and capital investment committee into Scotland’s railways there is this information: “Passengers’ View Scotland noted that ScotRail had long accepted that diesel multiple units were not suitable for longer journeys, but that nothing had yet been done to resolve the problem.”
1 commentLetter: Union Flag blues
PLEASE could someone explain what would happen to the Union Flag if Scotland votes in favour of independence? I think the blue and white of the Saltire would be sadly missed.
5 commentsLetters: ‘Dinosaur’ policy disregards real issues
THE ongoing debate about the pros and cons of Scottish independence continues, as the Scottish Government officially launches its referendum campaign.
3 commentsSocial justice
Where does David Cameron find the evidence that, according to the European Commission, a financial transaction tax (FTT) would cost “hundreds of thousands of jobs”, that “you end up putting up the costs of people’s insurance policies, putting up the cost of people’s pension policies, and actually driving all that activity offshore”, and that “it as a good way of taking a lot of tax out of the UK and spending it in Europe”?
4 commentsEurope’s folly
It WAS heartening to read your thoughtful editorial on Greek membership of the euro (24 May). However, I am very doubtful that disaster will be avoided.
3 commentsTeaching targets
In his evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, Brian McAlinden expressed the view that putting teachers on five-year contracts would improve their performance (your report, 24 May).
6 commentsLost school days
One person who would probably agree with Arnold Clark’s negative assessment of the suitability of Scottish youngsters for employment might be Frank Field, MP.
1 commentStalker justice
Whenever I hear about a court taking seriously a stalking case (your report, 24 May), I breathe a sigh of relief.
Future of defence
While I have the highest respect for Professor Trevor Salmon, his argument that an independent Scotland would somehow be excluded from selling arms to Nato countries cuts little ice (your report, 23 May).
3 commentsJoined-up thought
While agreeing with much of what Dr Mary Brown says in relation to the importance of correct grammar (Letters, 24 May) and acknowledging her enthusiasm for promoting it, I think her suggestion that “and” is a preposition is surely wrong.
12 commentsBeauty parade
I was disappointed with the lack of clarity in your business section (23 May). In your very informative article on equity purchase in Formula 1, it was not made clear whether the attractive young lady with the plunging neck-line in the accompanying photograph was a driver, a mechanic or a team executive.
3 commentsSame-sex parents
Tim Hopkins (Letters, 23 May) is rather selective in his advocacy of same-sex parenting. The notion that the lack of a father or mother makes no difference to a child is a view held by very few people in our society.
29 commentsDon’t back Baku
As the great British public sits down to “enjoy” this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, and cheer on Englebert Humperdink singing Love Will Set You Free, I would ask that they contemplate those citizens in Azerbaijan who have not, and are not likely to be, “set free”. These are those who have been illegally imprisoned, attacked, harassed or threatened by the Azerbaijani authorities.
Independence campaign will be flawed
The SNP will today launch its campaign to create a new entity within the European Union. To some, it will herald a campaign to restore ancient rights to Scotland and, to others, it will signal the beginning of a fight to retain the Union that has enriched Scotland and the rest of Britain, both financially and culturally.
12 commentsPayday loan laws
The Kirk is calling for greater regulation of payday loans and the interest rates they charge (your report, 22 May). It echoes a call by Dame Anne Begg MP to the Westminster government. Why do both find there is “little political appetite” for putting a cap on interest rates?
1 commentHome-grown hit
In view of Scotland’s outstanding literary heritage, it was sad not to see a Scottish author included in our country’s list of top ten novels (your report, 22 May). However, let us take heart as others in the UK are eager to celebrate Scottish fiction: the UK list includes The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame’s story may seem very English in content, but let’s remember that he was a Scottish author, born in our capital city.
1 commentSpelling it out
Totes respect 2 Emma Cowing for dumping her boyfriend who couldn’t spell (Perspective, 23 May). Recently I was in a branch of a well-known bookshop where I spotted an obvious grammatical error in a notice. When I pointed it out to a member of staff he said it must be correct as “I done English at uni.”
8 commentsNato’s not for independent Scotland
As A campaigning party the SNP has always had to rely on winning votes with broad populist statements.
6 commentsWorkplace crisis
What a damning, if not frightening, indictment by the Arnold Clark car dealership group (your report, 22 May) that after interviewing more than 2,200 young people for its apprenticeship scheme, more than 80 per cent were deemed to be unsuitable for employment, not just as apprentices, but for “employment of any kind”.
1 commentLanguage skills
What on earth does John Munro mean when he says “very few children will ever need to use a foreign language” (Letters, 22 May)? Is he really encouraging them to grow up and travel abroad and just speak English loudly until the local people understand them? I hope not. How insular and small-minded.
6 commentsRail realities
While I have no doubt that MSPs on the infrastructure and capital investment committee (your report, 21 May) thought they were acting in the best interests of rail travellers when they urged that any train more than a minute overdue be classed as late (as opposed to the current five-to-ten-minute threshold), I fear that they will have made it harder for new stations and services to be provided. The privatised and fragmented railway lives by “delay attribution”. When a train is late, a cause must be assigned and the culprit fined.
Smoke defence
Sheila Duffy of ASH Scotland was right when she said there should be full transparency about the interests, especially financial, of organisations involved in debates on issues as important as public health (Platform, 23 May). That is why the UK government’s consultation on standardised tobacco packaging acknowledges that as party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) it has an obligation to ask all respondents to disclose whether they have any direct or indirect links to, or receive funding from, the tobacco industry.
3 commentsCreative credit
Tim Cornwell’s observations about Creative Scotland (21 May) portray an organisation mired in layers of bureaucratic confusion that prevent funding from reaching what he calls “the right people”. May I offer a glimpse of the other side of the coin?
Defence facts
It is deeply dispiriting to note the continual scaremongering over Scotland’s defence industry and that somehow post- independence, the Ministry of Defence would not continue to purchase from Scotland.
5 commentsArrest the drunks
I agree with Andrew Haughney (Letters, 22 May) that a more effective way for the government to deal with problem drinking, rather than a simple price increase, would be to dust off the statute book and see if the offence of being “drunk and disorderly” still exists.
4 commentsIt’s a mystery
I AM struggling to believe that The Da Vinci Code was named as Scots’ favourite novel (your report, 23 May).
10 commentsRemote control
The merging of health and social care under one elected authority is the strongest part of Reform Scotland chairman Ben Thomson’s case for local government reform (Perspective, 22 May).
Megrahi doubts
Bearing in mind Tony Gauci’s insistence that the man who purchased clothing in his shop was about 50 years old, over 6ft tall, heavily built and dark-skinned (Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was 36, 5ft 8in tall, of medium build and light-skinned), Clive Fairweather’s doubts over his identification of Megrahi (your report, 21 May) are well founded.
1 commentEmployers who drive away new recruits
Is IT possible that employers are using recruitment systems that are not fit for purpose rather than most young people not being fit for work (your report, 22 May)?
Faith in future
As a secular campaigner and Doonhamer living in Edinburgh and I was very proud to hear of Dumfries and Galloway Council acting to remove prayers from the official council business agenda.
8 comments
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Monday 28 May 2012
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