Letters: Repairing city’s pavements would be a positive step

From loose and wobbly slabs to surfaces that are completely uneven, negotiating some pavements is almost as hazardous as negotiating some of the badly maintained roads.

For the sake of the thousands who use pavements, paths, walkways and other walking surfaces, surely it’s not too much to ask for such passages to be made safe all the year round.

Angus McGregor, Albion Road, Edinburgh

Government not part of real world

PRIME Minister David Cameron says that his endless U-turns on policies show that his government is “brave”.

Oh really?

To me, what it shows is a coalition that was recently hammered in local elections and a public who have shown that they will not tolerate being treated like dirt by an out-of-touch, ignorant, self-serving government which does not live in the real world.

Alan Lough, Dunbar

Selection process is rather naive

I WAS shocked to read Norman Bonney’s letter regarding compulsory religious representatives on our education committees (News, June 11).

Even if we concede to the idea that it is appropriate at all to have non-elected committee members, surely there must be a long list of more suitable candidates comprising business leaders, artists, academics or parents? That these religious representatives are not even interviewed for selection and considered beyond reproach seems naive given the dreadful history of priestly child abuse.

Neil Barber, Saughtonhall, Edinburgh

Casual attitude to unborn is worrying

How truly saddening that despite a decrease in the abortion rate in Scotland, across the UK it has increased and more women than ever are having repeat abortions.

These statistics show our society has a very casual attitude towards the unborn.

Disrespect for the unborn signals a wider disrespect for human life

A PhD in biology is not necessary to know that human life begins at the moment of conception. Embryos are the early stage of human life; they are vulnerable and need protection by the law.

Martin Conroy, Oldhamstocks, East Lothian

Need for agency nurses unhealthy

IT is not only legionnaires’ disease that is the threatening the general public’s health, but also Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary.

It took several days of silence before she realised the seriousness of the situation.

This only adds to the many faults that exist in the NHS in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK. Staff levels are still much too dependent on nursing agencies to fill the gaps left by many nurses who have been made redundant.

Agency nursing is an expensive commodity for the NHS and on top of that many of the agency nurses will be unfamiliar with the hospital they are working in and unfamiliar with the patients they are working with in these wards.

Already there are serious maintenance and hygiene problems within our hospitals.

Chas Dennis, Niddrie Marischal Road, Edinburgh

It’s time for quick and lasting action

HOME Secretary Theresa May has warned judges to stop allowing foreign prisoners, law breakers and illegal immigrants to stay in Britain on the grounds that they have a right, under human rights legislation, to a family life.

The public are aware that judges have freed thousand of criminals and asylum seekers whom Government ministers had hoped to deport.

The cost of legal aid for these immigrants is horrendous, especially when lawyers drag out proceedings for their own financial benefit.

I welcome this latest stance by Theresa May, but talk is cheap and the public demand quick and lasting action.

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow