Letters

SIR Richard Stern's report has been seized on by the Government as an excuse to propose a "green tax". Why did we need a report from him when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on the economic effects?

Could it be that Stern's views suit this Government's need to raise yet more taxes?

There will be additional taxes on 4x4s, lightbulbs, journeys by air, motorists to pay by the mile travelled and even more duty on fuel products.

Any taxes collected they will just use to spend on other areas such as improving their own salaries, pensions and allowances.

There are however many scientists who do not subscribe to the global warming theory, are opposed to it, and state that it is a natural phenomenon only marginally affected by CO2.

Already 17,100 scientists are disputing that hydrocarbons are harmful and say that man's responsibility for global warming has not been proved.

Do they think that the energy rich countries of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq will do anything?

It is against their interests and they have already said that the Stern report is misguided.

Will we bribe China and India with taxpayers' money to reduce their carbon footprint?

The UK produces only two per cent of the world's CO2 levels and if we unplugged everything tomorrow China, India and America would soon cancel out any savings. Other countries want the economic benefits that they see in the West and are highly unlikely to curb carbon emissions especially with their huge population growth.

I predict that in a few years' time Stern's theory will be discredited. Will we then be able to claim back all the green taxes we have been forced to pay?

Clark Cross,

Springfield Road, Linlithgow

Gait a monument to poor planning

YOU report that B&Q will create 250 jobs in a planned new warehouse-shop at the ailing Hermiston Gait (News, November 6). But it is what you don't report that it is interesting.

You don't report the jobs and businesses that will be lost in the few remaining hardware stores within the city. You know the kind: where you can buy one bolt when you only want one bolt, rather than the pre-packed 100 you need to buy at the giant shops.

You don't report the loss of service for those who have no car (have you ever tried getting a bus to Hermiston Gait?) or the extra tonnes of pollution that will be caused by the journeys.

Hermiston Gait is ailing because is a monument to failed planning ideas. It has no place in a future sustainable Edinburgh.

Gavin Corbett,

Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Greyhound idea is a curious mixture

WITH regard to your article "Hotel bid to stop greyhound arena from going to the dogs" (News October 31), I find the prospect of a greyhound stadium as part of a residential and leisure development both troubling and amusing.

One would have thought that as a tax accountant Howard Wallace, as a visionary entrepreneur with a passion for greyhound racing, would have analysed the market a bit more thoroughly in relation to building costs, inflation and budgeted for unexpected overheads? Clearly not given he is now inviting supermarkets and higher quality hotels to become involved in the vision. What price a quiet life if you have bought a house in the development next to this ever expanding site?

Mr Wallace should look at facilities which would truly benefit the community in Wallyford and East Lothian rather than a greyhound stadium which would undoubtedly bring noise and disruption to the area if the experience of residents near English greyhound tracks is replicated.

While the numbers of dogs that are surplus to the racing industry and disposed of annually is open to conjecture, what is clear is that the number rehomed does not equate to the surplus - so what does happen to these dogs?

The greyhound racing industry in the UK is dying out and is also clearly implicated in animal abuse - the recent "killing fields" at Seaham, County Durham, where up to 10,000 dogs were disposed of by a bullet to the head at 10 a time proves that the dogs involved in racing are at best poorly treated and seen as commodities to be disposed of on the quiet at the trainers or owners' whim.

When the original planning consent for the stadium was approved, part of the application involved a commitment to provide a "retirement home" for dogs retiring from racing at the stadium. Can East Lothian Council or Mr Wallace inform the public what stage this facility is at given the deathly silence as to where this will be located and who will operate it?

Davie Rutherford,

Greyhound Action Scotland, Brown Street, Haddington, East Lothian

Fur industry is a cruel business

ANDREA MARTIN, Press and PR officer for the British Fur Trade Association, certainly has her work cut out trying to defend the indefensible (Your views, November 6). Surely she does not really expect readers to believe that the fur industry really ensures that "the methods of production meet the highest humane standards"?

Every year over 50 million animals are killed so that their fur can be used by humans; that is more than 130,000 animals slaughtered every day just so that somebody else can wear their coat. Fur comes from animals either trapped in the wild or raised on factory farms. Trapping methods can be hideously cruel. On fur farms, which were recently banned in the UK on grounds of public morality, essentially wild animals are kept in solitary confinement in small barren cages, only for them to be gassed or electrocuted.

The vast majority of the British public does not want to buy fur or be seen wearing it. The fact that high-street fashion stores such as Selfridges, Zara, Liberty, Top Shop and Harvey Nichols have decided to end the sale of all fur products due to lack of customer demand is a sign of the times.

Ross Minett, director, Advocates for Animals,

Queensferry Street, Edinburgh

Let's keep our pets but kick out yobs

A COLD-HEARTED idea, indeed, from Liam Rudden (News, November 3) to ban pets from Edinburgh. So the pavements might be pristine (apart, of course, from litter, vomit, broken glass and bodily fluids) but what about the old folks, children and other animal lovers deprived of the companionship of their pet?

Never mind the amount of animals hopefully looking for a home who would be denied. I've got a better idea - ban young yobs from Edinburgh. No more vandalism, graffiti, gang stabbings, muggings, car thefts, happy-slapping or burning down of properties. Sounds good to me!

B Robertson,

Montgomery Street, Edinburgh

Both passes are a must for their users

THANK you for printing about elderly Edinburgh residents unable to hold both a bus pass and a cheap taxi card.

I am over 80. My husband is severely disabled and I look after him in every way. I myself dread winter weather and have had two broken wrists as a result of slipping on ice within the last years.

I only drive my car in winter when there is no snow or ice. My balance is very poor, probably as a result of having had a cochlear implant to cure my severe deafness. I applied to the council for a card but it has been turned down. If I give up my bus pass it means I have no chance to visit my daughter in Kirkcaldy.

Mrs M Thompson,

Craiglockhart Terrace, Edinburgh

Pitches still not a level playing field

WHILE the proposed council investment of 190,000 in playing surfaces and the introduction of a temporary pavilion at Double Hedges is to be welcomed, it is a very small step to solve the problem of our appalling sports facilities (Playing ball with pitches cash, News, November 4).

As someone who frequently uses the facilities at Double Hedges as a member of Liberton Rugby Club, I can testify to the state of the dilapidated, crumbling pavilion and potholed playing fields. Unfortunately no date has been set for the construction of a new pavilion, and instead we are to have three "temporary" blocks. It is the responsibility of the council to provide an indication of when the pavilion will be renovated or fully rebuilt, and what strategy it has in place to refurbish other similarly ramshackle facilities across the Capital.

Alex Orr,

Bryson Road, Edinburgh