Letters: It gets harder to work out when levels are changed

In December 2011, after just having turned 60, I purchased a leisure card with the intention of going swimming more often, rather encouraged by the concessionary rate.

On first use in January 2012 I was advised that I now needed to be 65 to get a concession! In my particular case I maintained that I had entered into a contract with Edinburgh Leisure for one year and they needed to honour my concession.

In fairness this was agreed to – but many others may not so challenge.

Ian Hardie, Comiston Drive, Edinburgh

Chasing cleansing staff is a dirty job

FURTHER to the letter “Grit hits fan...” (News, January 17)), readers may be interested to read about a situation where it seems impossible to get council employees to do anything at all, never mind repeat actions. On January 11, I phoned the council and asked that bin bags which had been dumped by someone on the pavement outside our house be uplifted.

Astoundingly, five days later they were still sitting there, despite me phoning them a further twice and also contacting our local councillor.

What do cleansing workers do if they do not collect rubbish? It is also obvious no-one cleans our pavements.

James Darroch, Montagu Terrace, Edinburgh

One day, we will have the courage

WELCOME to the newly independent Scotland of 2016, where the dukes of Sutherland and Westminster still own most of the land and cover it with subsidised, unproductive windmills, where the Civil Service and boardrooms are still dominated by the products of a couple of private schools and universities, and where if Donald Trump proposes crowning Arthur’s Seat with a pink granite fairytale castle the Scottish Parliament will give him the nod.

Sooner or later we will breed a young generation with the courage to demand an independence that means more than just a change of headmaster whilst the dead hands of inherited and purchased privilege remain on the tiller. May I live to see that day!

David Fiddimore, Calton Road, Edinburgh

Start off with the facts, Martin

I DREAM of the day that Martin Hannan writes an article that is free from sanctimony and ad hominem, and instead contains some comment rooted in reality. Here are some facts for him to conjure with:

n Around 25 per cent of the Scottish electorate voted SNP at the last Scottish election. A thumping result, but nothing close to an overwhelming popular mandate.

n Contrary to Mr Hannan’s assertion, the SNP did not campaign on having a referendum in the second half of this parliament. The timing never appeared in their manifesto and was only confirmed by Salmond days before the election; after many people had cast their postal votes.

Rob Miller, Bracken Avenue, Falkirk

Don’t be scared by sterling stories

THE comments by George Osborne and Alistair Darling, that there would be some dubiety over whether Scotland could retain sterling as a currency or not demonstrates such a lack of economics that it explains why we are in the current economic predicament.

The pound would be a fully convertible currency in an independent Scotland and the UK Government can’t stop Scotland using sterling, it does not have ownership over its use.

In Ireland, monetary union with sterling was maintained post-independence and the Free State pound was pegged to the pound sterling, with pound sterling continuing to be accepted on a one-for-one basis everywhere. Such a situation lasted until Ireland joined the European Monetary System in 1979. The Isle of Man and Channel Islands are in a currency union with the UK, with coins and notes issued in pounds sterling.

Mr Osborne and Mr Darling are resorting to blatant scaremongering.

Alex Orr, Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh