Letter: Careful, Salmond, riots could happen here

As Scottish police officers were sent south anyway to help cope with the unrest, he still might have adopted a more magnanimous approach, rather than one that seemed to be concerned simply with tourist numbers or the potential for inward investment.

It was important that political leaders here were seen not to take any political satisfaction from the difficulties that the coalition government faces over the matter.

After all, it was only last spring that Scotland attracted international opprobrium over the question of sectarianism in football and the wider society. This is a serious scourge on the body politic here and one the majority SNP administration has still to deal with fully.

"A riot," said the late Martin Luther King, "is, at bottom, the language of the unheard". Nobody should be so naive as to believe that looting and fire-raising in London, Birmingham, Manchester and elsewhere was caused by disaffected youth who felt nobody was listening to them.

But nobody should be so naive either to believe that the sort of chaos we have witnessed recently could not appear, albeit in a modified form, north of the Border too. Mr Salmond should have the statesmanship to recognise this. Stressing that Scotland is a different country need not preclude recognition that common problems may need common solutions backed by diplomatic language.

Bob Taylor

Shiel Court

Glenrothes, Fife

Eddie Barnes's well balanced report, "Salmond: Scotland safer than England" (11 August), highlights the fact that the dreadful riots happening in England are the responsibility of Westminster and not the Scottish Government.

The criticism by the opposition parties, which appear to be disappointed that the riots have not spread to Scotland, of the First Minister's actions demonstrates that their first loyalty is to their London-based parties and not the people of Scotland.

The First Minister, by his actions, has demonstrated that the Scottish Government is willing to help by providing additional police officers to help their colleagues in England, but by making the distinction between Scotland and England he is acting to protect the businesses and the jobs in the Scottish tourist industry.

The First Minister has a responsibility to the people of Scotland and if he had not acted as he did I would suggest he could and would have been accused by the very same opposition politicians of dereliction of duty.

Thomas L Inglis

Menzies Avenue

Fintry

I absolutely agree with your editorial on the First Minister setting the wrong tone over the riots. In making these comments he has set himself as an "Aunt Sally" for his opponents to make all sorts of non-complimentary comments about him - not that this will bother him as that is almost par for the course.

Nevertheless, he should not have made these comments.These are our neighbours and in these troubled times we should be concerned and be prepared to assist, as we are doing by sending additional police.

We should not be creating divisions or suggesting a "them and us" situation. There are many many Scots people living in England who will no doubt be equally affected by all this trauma.

This pearl of wisdom from our First Minister shows that the caricatures your paper often runs of him - small brain, big mouth - are maybe not too far off the mark after all.

David Binnie

Church Street

Broughty Ferry, Dundee

The very essence of nationalism was exposed in the complaint of the First Minister about the use of the word "UK" rather than "England" in the reporting of recent events in some English cities.

There was no sympathy expressed by Mr Salmond for those with whom we share this small island and who have been distressed by the events, or who have lost homes, businesses and even family members in the carnage.

What we got instead was the basic nationalist "me-first" mantra, the forever self-obsessed, inward-looking Anglophobia, the reluctance to look out and share.

The people of Scotland should open their eyes and see what nationalism really means.

Alexander McKay

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh

Everyone involved in Scotland's tourist industry must be very worried that the riots in many parts of England are acting as a disincentive to people abroad planning to visit Scotland.

After all, the media in many parts of the world sometimes finds it difficult to understand that Scotland is not part of England. I would have expected that The Scotsman would not have suffered from the same degree of ignorance.

However Wednesday's headline, "Riot-hit UK", swiftly followed by Stephen McGinty's ludicrous statement that "mobs continued looting and robbing across the UK", must serve to confirm the completely inaccurate impression that Scotland, as part of the UK at present, must be seriously affected by dangerous rioting.

I would hope steps will be taken to ensure that in future The Scotsman will more accurate when reporting events in England and that Mr McGinty will grasp the fact that the terms England and the UK are not synonymous.

Iain Hall

Georgina Place

Scone, Perthshire

Alex Salmond was correct in his comments on the riots and his opponents are the ones who are trying the political point-scoring tactic. There are no riots in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland so they are English riots.

Donald Scott

Glenorchil Crescent

Auchterarder

I DO agree with Alex Salmond, (your report, 11 August) that riots are less likely to occur here in Scotland than in England.

But if there is any chance of riots happening here the police would be well advised to deploy their forces to guard the inner city fish and chip emporiums of Glasgow and the charity shops of Morningside in Edinburgh.

K Wilson

Middle Norton

Edinburgh