Letters: Let me Proclaim my Euro vision for singing twins

I agree with the fact that the UK result in the recent Eurovision contest is something that the UK should not be proud of. There are probably many reasons for the defeat including the way the UK is seen by other countries around Europe.

I hope in future years that the UK will have a much improved performance and perhaps Scotland will even have its own entry. However, I certainly do not wish to see the separatist agenda used to achieve these means.

If Scotland feels it has something to offer this contest then why don’t The Proclaimers put themselves forward as the UK entry for 2013?

Alastair Macintyre, Webster Place, Rosyth, Fife

Farcical start for ‘Yes’ campaign

WHAT a farce the “Yes” campaign for independence has got off to!

Firstly, the launch of the campaign includes, at the top table, an actor who didn’t think Scotland was up to the mark and not only defected to the US but, for good measure, took out American citizenship!

Then we are subject to the woeful performance of Nicola Sturgeon on Sunday’s televised debate, showing that the SNP simply is not prepared for even the most straightforward of scenarios should independence become reality.

To cap it all off, the pro- independence writer Alex Orr (Letters, May 29) blames the performance of the UK entrant in the Eurovision song contest on the Union!

Have we really got to put up with this for another two years or so, or will the SNP realise a lot sooner that its holy grail is nothing other than fantasy land?

James Anderson, Lady Nairne, Edinburgh

Choice for Scots is growth or cuts

MICHELLE Smythe’s comments (Letters, May 30) about Scottish actors who are working abroad supporting independence ignores the fact that many Scots who work and travel abroad can see how much better off other countries are with independence.

They can, for example, experience the progressive social democracy and higher standards of living in the small Scandinavian nations, and each of the most recent IMF, World Bank and CIA measures of wealth per capita still rank Ireland and Iceland ahead of the UK. With £1.5 trillion of oil and gas reserves, the choice for Scots is a decade of cuts from a London government we didn’t vote for, or economic growth as an independent nation.

Fraser Grant, Warrender Park Loan, Edinburgh

Blue badges are not luxury items

I AM sure that I will not be the only person who is disgusted by the actions of the parking attendant who issued a ticket to blue badge holder Derek Cochrane (Letters, May 29).

I thought that if a person is the holder of a blue badge then they can park in a normal metered bay without having to pay. So why the fine, for the bumper being over? I just hope that this parking attendant is never in need of a blue badge. It is totally soul-destroying having to justify the necessity for a blue badge time and time again; to be made to complete countless forms, and fight bureaucracy at every turn.

I do not require a blue badge but have family members who do. It is not a luxury that some seem to see it as, it is a necessity.

I appreciate that there will always be people who abuse the system, but do something about that and then revenue would not have to be raised in this ludicrous manner.

E Wright, Musselburgh

Why persist with religious roles?

I WAS shocked to learn that Edinburgh City Council has appointed three Christians to statutory religious positions on the council’s education committee.

It is important that the religious continue to have the right to their private beliefs but this privileged access to influence over education fails to represent the majority of children whose parents have no religious beliefs or indeed children of parents with non-Christian religious beliefs.

Why do we persist with these appointments in our increasingly secular society ?

Neil Barber, Saughtonhall drive, Edinburgh