Letters: Time for bailed-out banks to give something back

Is this not the very situation which could be turned around by the Edinburgh banks which gained huge amounts of money from the taxpayer to prop up their industry?

As well as the banks being "sorry" for the very mess which has been the main cause of the council being short of money, this is a chance for these very institutions to put their money where their mouth is and save a very respected and worthwhile business from going under.

The money needed would be peanuts compared with the money the banks have received, and peanuts compared with the bonuses again paid out to their "top people" (much to the anger of the rest of us - and why did the Labour government not put "strings" on the bank loans anyway?).

Surely it is high time the banking industry used some of its quickly amassed profits for social purposes and the banks would begin to redeem themselves with the public.

M Adams, Edinburgh

Going off-track on city priorities

I READ with disgust that BlindCraft may have to close.

BlindCraft has become an important facility over the years for people with a disability. The reason given for the possible closure is that there are no funds to keep it open. Yet we still have the farcical situation with the trams.

Surely it is time to decide that the trams should run from the Gogar depot to the end of Princes Street. There is already a very good bus service that can cope with the routes around Edinburgh.

It has also been announced that the Government is to donate a further 10 million to the Pakistan flood situation. Surely the government can find sufficient funds to donate to an important facility in our own country?

Mrs E Porteous, St Stephen Street, Edinburgh

Reminding us of our toxic legacy

Monday's Evening News told of the woman who was lucky to escape with her life following an extreme reaction to a household spray (Cleaning spray left mum fighting for life, News September 20). Meanwhile, Tuesday's told us about a factory fire near Livingston which has resulted in chromium being found in nearby rivers.

Globalisation has resulted in the large-scale removal of industrial plant to developing countries where, under much more laxregulation, polluters are free to dump toxic chemicals with barely a whimper of protest. Our rivers are generally getting cleaner but only at the cost of exporting the pollution.

So it is timely to be reminded that our love affair with toxicity is not risk-free nor is it yet controlled safely.

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Labouring under false beliefs

It is nothing short of terrifying to consider the appallingly low level of intellect of the prime contender for leadership of the Labour Party, and therefore would-be prime minister.

David Miliband's reaction to a report that the number of Scottish households with no residents in work has increased by 10 per cent in the past year is to blame the Tory/Lib Dem coalition, claiming that "Scotland has always suffered under the Tories". Since Labour was in power for most of the year involved, he must expect people to believe that the increase happened exclusively since the election in May.

He is obviously more suited to the role of spin doctor than of party leader, and he seems pretty clumsy even at that.

Robert Dow, Ormiston Road, Tranent

Caught out by carelessness

The vast majority of people in this country have a habit of putting money aside for a rainy day or unexpected expenditure. Why is it then that both government and councils have been caught short with money that doesn't belong to them?

Is it time for cuts, or try something different without causing the fear of unemployment?

CJR Fentiman, Polwarth Gardens, Edinburgh