Letter: Held to account

I HAVE been reading correspondence on the subject of the Edinburgh trams for longer than I care to remember. As far as I am aware, the SNP government was against the project from the outset but was outvoted at Holyrood by opposition MSPs.

I thought MSPs were returned by their constituents to assess proposals such as these which should in no way be party political and vote on the basis of what was good for Edinburgh, in this instance, and Scotland in general. They clearly were not taking into account the wishes of the majority of the people of Edinburgh who were opposed to the proposals from the start.

I feel sorry for the citizens of Edinburgh who have had to put up with the chaos of the project to date, with no sign of an end in sight. Many people, myself included, have avoided the centre of Edinburgh since work started due to traffic problems that have resulted in reduced trade for businesses in that area.

Voters who feel strongly should find out how their MSP initially voted on the trams and, if they were in favour, choose another candidate in May, making it clear to the sitting member why they have done so. That might make them a little more careful on how they vote on multi-million-pound projects of doubtful value in future.

JACK WATT

Castle Street

Selkirk