Letters: Consider your options so you don't squander election vote

AT LONG last we know the date of the election despite the uncertainty that we have been going through recently. I was becoming so disenfranchised that I was severely tempted not to vote during this election until I remembered something I told a friend a long time ago.

I told him that his ballot paper was like a share that everyone is entitled to at election time – providing they are of the right age and they fit the right criteria laid out by our government.

Like a share, your voting paper can be used wisely or stupidly. A share can be sold without you looking for the best deals or options, and in that case, you will only get what you are given. Your ballot paper should be used and treated like a share – your share in your country.

By using it properly, it should determine how your future and that of others in our country works out. A value cannot be placed on your voting paper, but if it were money would you throw or give it away for nothing?

Before you put a cross on your ballot paper, shop around and ask what you are going to get for it. Only part with your voting paper when you are satisfied that you have been given the best deals.

More importantly, you must use your voting paper if you want any say in your elected politician and their policies because you agreed with them. I still believe that to be true even today, and it is up to every individual to use their voting paper for our democracy to work properly. The people of this country are now being given a chance to say who is right to run our country, and the ballot box is still the right place to do that. So roll on voting day so that I can have my say.

Andrew Murphy, Edinburgh

Business moguls can advise country

MANY years ago, when my husband ran his own small business, effectively and successfully, he once remarked at the lack of experience some of our over-paid MPs had to tackle the economic difficulties our country was experiencing from time to time.

Instead, he went on to say, the government should include top business moguls who were competent and capable, to balance the nation's books.

In view of recent "big guns" getting together to do just that, his "heart of wisdom" has come to pass. Clever chap, my husband.

S De Luca, Juniper Green, Edinburgh

Drab livery lives up to Capital's image

WELL done to Lothian Buses for bringing back the most drab livery for buses in the country. Is World War Three on its way?

Inspiring city – what a joke, it can't even come up with a new livery for its buses and trams without harking back to the past. That's Edinburgh all over, even its new buildings are out of date before they are built.

A drab livery for its buses from the world's drabbest capital city.

V Radzynski, Colinton Mains Drive, Edinburgh

Baloney spotted by Nationalists

I DISAGREE with your claim that "no party will be left untainted" by the tram project (News, 11 March).

The SNP voted against the project in the Scottish Parliament and at council level. All other parties voted for the trams on both occasions. Since the project was approved, Steve Cardownie has been a constant critic and Lothians MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville has campaigned tirelessly for more openness on the escalating costs.

The project belongs to an age in which many people believed that boom and bust had been eradicated by Gordon Brown and it didn't matter if a large capital project ran over budget. The SNP deserves credit for knowing both were pure baloney. Unfortunately not enough people listened.

Gavin Fleming, Webster's Land, Grassmarket, Edinburgh

Litter louts need more pride in city

AS SOMEONE whose house has a bus stop outside it, I am appalled by the constant littering that occurs in my garden. Almost every day I have to pick up empty crisp packets, chocolate bar wrappers and old bus tickets. Why aren't people more thoughtful about where they leave their rubbish, and more to the point, why don't they take more pride in keeping this beautiful city clean?

R Adams, Cramond, Edinburgh