Letters: Vision of independence sounds like a fantasy world

What fantasy world does Calum Stewart live in (Letters, March 1)? He says an independent Scotland will charge the rest of the UK for the return of Trident missiles. This is nonsense.

If Scotland wants rid of them it is more likely that Scotland will be charged by England as compensation for the expense of having to relocate them and the submarines which carry them, and for the loss of Faslane.

He refers to natural resources of wind and tide, but where are the jobs? The wind turbines are all made in Denmark and Germany and will provide very little maintenance jobs in future for Scottish workers.

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Their presence may even be destroying jobs in tourism and the high cost of electricity will not encourage manufacturers to locate here.

As regards North Sea oil, its production fell 18 per cent last year from a point already well below its peak. It is now around half what it was at its highest.

There was almost no new investment last year either. The price of oil goes up and down all the time depending on geopolitical developments and the revenue cannot be relied on. Again, many if not most of the oil jobs will go to specialists from international oil firms (I know, I used to be one).

Calum Stewart seems to be painting a picture of a Scotland where we all sit back and live off revenues from natural resources and compensation from the rest of the UK. This is simply not realistic.

Donald McBride, Edinburgh

If only SNP had been in charge

ROBERT Jenkins said he has worked in the construction industry all his life (Letters, February 27). Well, he must know what happened.

Under Tory and Labour governments, thousands were paid off. I was a manager in the building supply industry. With the construction industry in decline we had to shut six depots.

The SNP were not in power then.

Mr Jenkins also said the Forth bridge contract should have gone to Scottish workers: 118 contracts have gone to Scottish workers. Mr Jenkins must know we don’t have the capacity for all the steel, that’s why it had to go foreign companies.

The reason is we no longer have a steel industry – the Tories and Labour have seen to that. We can’t supply the type of steel needed.

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Mr Jenkins should take a trip to Motherwell and Wishaw and see what’s left of Ravenscraig and the steel industry – nothing.

And when all this was happening, the SNP were not in power. I just wish they had been. Then we would have seen some investment into all our manufacturing industries, which have all gone, gates shut, never to open again.

Don’t blame the SNP for all Scotland’s ills – they were never in power when all this happened.

HGF Maynard, Swanston Avenue, Edinburgh

They need a tram good thrashing

THE Edinburgh trams project is the biggest shambles I have ever come across in my life.

It shows how apathetic people can be when not one of the numpties who gave this disgrace the go-ahead has had the decency to resign over how deaf they were to the voices and opinions of the people of Edinburgh, who neither asked for nor wanted this absolute mess of a project.

But, on a brighter note, there is an election coming up in May, so the people of Edinburgh could give these arrogant councillors a taste of their own medicine at polling stations and kick them out on their rear ends where they belong.

Alan Lough, Dunbar, East Lothian

What about jobs and services?

DESPITE repeated warnings which the political parties have chosen to ignore, it is now up to the public

By making cuts in essential services, without first seeking advice, both Westminster and Holyrood are giving the impression that the people they are cutting are surplus to requirements.

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When election time comes, the voters will remember these decisions and the services which were paid for but not received. Perhaps the parties in Edinburgh have forgotten the local phrase – “Improving services, creating jobs”.

CJR Fentiman, Polwarth Gardens, Edinburgh