Interactive: Good riddance to Labour and culture of surveillance

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Evening News, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS

BOTH Alex Orr and William Burns express disdain for the Liberal Democrats and for their coalition with the Conservatives (Interactive, 13 May).

However, I am in complete disagreement, and greatly welcome the political changes now taking place. In particular, I find it refreshing that at long last we have a government at Westminster that is so fully committed to restoring the civil liberties and freedoms of the people of this country.

For me the past 13 years of New Labour rule has been a complete nightmare of ever increasing authoritarianism and surveillance.

Indeed, this country is now to its shame regarded as the surveillance capital of Europe.

The last government squandered billions of our hard-earned pounds on huge IT systems and intrusive databases of our most personal information, making the old East German Stasi look like rank amateurs.

And I can hardly believe that this should have happened in a country that had fought so hard over the centuries for the freedom of its citizens.

So to me it's brilliant news that the new coalition government is going to ditch ID cards, the vast National Identity database and so much else.

Dr John Welford, Boat Green, Edinburgh

Lib Dems sell the jerseys once again

PAUL Edie does not tell the truth in his recollection of the post-2007 council election negotiations (News, 13 May). As leader of Labour's negotiating team, I well remember our side saying explicitly to the Lib Dems that we wanted to talk policies before positions, none more forcefully than the late Cllr Maginnis who was part of our team.

It was the "Fib Dems" who started to try to barter positions. When we wouldn't play ball, they sold the jerseys and for the sake of their positions went into bed with a party who disagreed on the one thing that needed real leadership for the city, trams – with disastrous consequences for Scotland's capital city.

The Lib Dems in Westminster have done the same, given up PR and Trident for cabinet posts and camera-time and the country will suffer as the city is suffering. The people who wanted positions got them, without caring about the price the rest of us have to pay.

Ewan Aitken, Labour Councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward

Lawn order thanks to prickly plants

ALAN McEwen's story about jaggy bushes deterring criminals from housebreaking (News, 13 May) is one of the daftest things I've seen recently. I'm not blaming Alan – no doubt it was a "plant" from Fettes' PR people!

It's a nice idea that miscreants will leave their DNA and blood samples after wrestling with your shrubbery on their getaway from liberating loot from your home.

Then, I suppose, Special Branch will turnip on your doorstep, faster than prize-winning runner beans.

The detectives will next try to track down the culprit, possibly using a grass in the pursuit of lawn-forcement.

Randall McLean, Portobello

Phone finder has restored my faith

AMIDST the recent election mania and other events in this uncertain world I have found there are decent folk around after all.

I got off the number three bus on Wednesday evening at Westside Plaza and only after I got home did I realise I had left my phone on the bus.

I used a friend's phone to try to call it in case someone had picked it up but it was not able to connect my call – thus I had an agonising wait until 10am the next day to call the lost property department at Lothian Buses, convinced someone had kept it. Thankfully it was there.

So may I say a huge thank you to whoever handed it to the bus driver and an equally huge thank you to the bus driver for handing it in to the depot.

I am currently unemployed and need my phone to receive calls for interviews and courses, plus there are irreplaceable photos in the phone.

Again a huge thanks – you have restored my faith in humanity.

Julia MacMillan, Wester Hailes