Letter: Turn it down

Alexander McCall Smith’s recent restaurant review (20 August) gave the Honours a good doing for the aggravating intrusion of background music.

He commented: “People… do not go out to dinner to listen to piped music that makes conversation difficult.”

Restaurants are not the only offenders. Commercial premises, department stores, hotel lifts and even banks are, in effect, discriminating against the 250,000 adults and children in Scotland who have some degree of communication impairment.

If we want to listen to music, even to Mr McCall Smith’s Really Terrible Orchestra, we can go to concerts in our Festival city.

(Rev) Clifford Hughes

Pavilion Cottage

Rumbling Bridge