Letters: Create the right impression by giving our city a clean

I have lived in Edinburgh my whole life and feel proud to class myself as a Leither. Unfortunately, my feelings have changed over the last few years.

There is an increase in street litter, an increase in overflowing rubbish bins, an increase in litter caused by seagulls and other vermin, and an increase in litter being dropped by members of the public. This needs to stop. It appears that nothing is done to prevent litter. Also, those who drop litter do not face any real consequences.

I have travelled around the world and it pains me to say this, but Edinburgh is not a city which I claim to be very clean, compared with those cities I have stayed in.

I often feel embarrassed about the state of Edinburgh streets, especially during summer when tourists are flocking to the city. We need to give them a good impression, one that Edinburgh deserves. I fear that the impression they get about Edinburgh is not one of cleanliness.

There needs to be greater provision of bins if we want to restore our city to the pristine, attractive place it once was. I urge people to dispose of their litter appropriately.

I also urge people to phone the council's 'rapid response' team if they feel their area is in need of a litter pick-up.

We need to clean up Edinburgh.

Jamie Thomson, Edinburgh

'Sexy' tram will burst the purse

EDINBURGH'S tram system was to cost 545 million. That has risen, optimistically, by around 200m. The bill amounts to an astonishing 3,600 for every household in the area. Despite that, most of the population will seldom use the system.

Why did the council do it? Answer, it is wedded to the extraordinarily expensive and silly idea of the steel-tyred wheel.

The notion that European cities have successful tram systems can only be sustained by gawping at the pictures and never inquiring about the costs. Sexy a tram may be, but it will bust your purse while returning little but photo opportunities.

The plain fact is that 90 per cent of motorised journeys are by car. Nearly all of those journeys are impossible to serve by bus let alone by trams or trains.

Hence, rather than bringing the place to a near standstill with a tram system and by junction improvements that are designed to deter the motorist (a) throw away trams and (b) bulldoze the junction arrangements in favour of ones that would minimise congestion.

It is not too difficult – just revert to what was in place 15 years ago.

Paul F Withrington, director, Transport Watch UK

Bordering on a big waste of cash

WHILE it might be important for the Border to have a landmark to help distinguish Scotland from England, the design that has been chosen does not seem very symbolic of Scotland.

And at a whopping 3 million, can the country afford a piece of vain public art?

Angus McGregor, Albion Road, Edinburgh

Fellow Britons deserve rights

ALEX Orr tells us (Interactive, July 5) that Scottish universities have to charge English students fees to prevent them swamping the universities in search of a cheap education.

What he fails to tells us is that while English, Welsh and Northern Irish students are charged fees, students from other European Union countries are not. Indeed, under European Union anti-discrimination law the Scottish government cannot treat them less favourably than Scottish students, although it can do so with British students.

The parents of students from other parts of Britain are taxpayers whose taxes ultimately contribute to the funding of Scottish universities, while neither the foreign students nor their families have contributed anything. Furthermore, there is a net subsidy from England and English taxpayers to Scotland and Scottish taxpayers.

What is needed is for Westminster to enact an equal rights provision which prevents public bodies (including the Scottish Parliament) treating people from one part of the UK less favourably than those from another.

Otto Inglis, Inveralmond Grove, Cramond, Edinburgh