Readers' Letters: Decision to die is not about suffering, but choice
It is interesting that Scottish MP Christine Jardine, in her comment piece “Assisted Dying Bill is about protecting the rights of the terminally ill” (Perspective, 2 December), indicated that she voted in favour of this Westminster Bill (which was agreed on Friday 29
Indeed, having worked in biomedical ethics for decades and carefully discussed palliative care, at length, with generations of palliative care doctors, I have never heard of any patient who, once having entered into an appropriate hospice, continues to ask for assisted suicide.
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Hide AdDr Linda Ganzini, who supports assisted suicide and who is a professor of medicine in Oregon (which legalised assisted suicide in 1997), even told the Scottish Parliament in 2010: “It would be highly unusual for a patient to choose assisted suicide purely because of pain that they were experiencing that could not be treated… It is really not about pain.”


In other words, the real argument supporting assisted suicide is not about unbearable suffering but about choice and the possibility of deciding when terminally ill persons have lives unworthy of life. But for a Parliament to agree that the value and worth of a life is only dependent on its quality puts at risk the most vulnerable in society.
Interestingly, Scottish MPs voted by 29 to 17 against this regressive Westminster Bill. This means that Scotland does not need to blindly follow England down a road of absolutist autonomy. As a nation, and as a civilised society, Scotland is capable of making responsible decisions for itself relating to its own upcoming legislation on assisted suicide. It can then give a clear signal that no category of person, even those who are disabled or terminally ill, will ever have lives unworthy of life.
(Dr) Calum MacKellar, Director of Research, Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Edinburgh
Split decision
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Hide AdInteresting to see how Scottish MPs voted in the recent assisted dying bill; 29 voted against, 17 for, with 11 not voting. So England has voted Yes, with Scotland still to vote. What will happen if Scotland votes No? Will there be a procession down south, like we see with some people off to Switzerland?
William Ballantine, Bo'ness, West Lothian
Unbelievable
I was aghast when I read “the Scottish Government’s long held target of reducing road fatalities to zero by 2050 and by 50 per cent by 2030” (your report, 28 November). This is completely unbelievable PR nonsense based on no factual evidence at all. You don’t have to be a statistician, rocket scientist, or indeed, a respected transport journalist, to see how ludicrously unattainable this forecast is. It is yet another example of our current government’s unerring ability to exist in Cloud Cuckoo Land!
SR Wild, Edinburgh
Short-sighted?
The SNP is well known for not taking lessons from anyone but perhaps this is short-sighted?
In yet another “lesson from history” the Green Party, albeit in the current Irish election, has been virtually wiped out. Given it appears the Scottish Greens are still heavily influencing the SNP over the upcoming Scottish Budget one wonders if the lessons that have been endured by the SNP over recent times due to the less than positive influence of the Greens might actually serve as a timely warning? Shona Robison is playing with fire if the Scottish Budget appears to be being written by the Greens. Handing back £100 to pensioners a year is not going to be enough to make everything better. Lessons definitely do need to be learned, and right now.
Gerald Edwards, Glasgow
Maybe Mayors
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Hide AdAfter last year's disastrous decision by Humza Yousaf to freeze the council tax, it's encouraging to hear that this year's Scottish Budget will aim for rises of up to 17 per cent (your report, 2 December). One of Holyrood's disappointing tendencies under the SNP, in particular, has been the centralisation of power, making it seem just as remote, if not more, than Westminster.
For far too long, Scottish councils have been strapped for cash, and vital community services like libraries are being closed nationwide. I won't mention the infamous potholes or cash-strapped schools. I suspect that I'm not alone in being willing to pay more in council tax, with the proviso that it enhances, or even saves, vital community resources.
One of the most successful innovations in recent times has been the creation of City Mayors in England, in particular in the northern cities, which feel remote from London. As Holyrood has been criticised for housing a parliament for the Central Belt, would it not be worthwhile exploring the possibility of elected city provosts in, say, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Stornoway, Kirkwall and Lerwick? That would be just for starters.
Ian Petrie, Edinburgh
Flying flags
I believe that the spirit of Jenny Geddes, who protested against the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer, in St Giles’ in 1637, was in the congregation and minds of those who had the privilege to attend Alex Salmond's Memorial Service in the same kirk last Saturday.
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Hide AdAfter Kenny MacAskill's oration members of the congregation were exhorted not to wave their Saltires in the kirk. Lucky there were no stools available to throw! No-one who attended the service, or the many who watched it live on BBC, could not have been waving metaphorical Saltires.
Certainly, the spirit of Jenny Geddes was in the crowds lining the Royal Mile, loudly lamenting their fallen hero. Jenny's protest led to many Scots signing The National Covenant. With supporters like these, who would bet against Scotland attaining Independence?
Wha's like him?
Lovina Roe, Perth
Spad’s Army
After the supposed triumph of the Glen Rosa ferry launch, we learn that the funnels were only in place for show. What have been called “crucial components” apparently now must be fitted underneath the outside funnel shells. So, off they came again to allow the work to go ahead.
As in times innumerable over the past years, up to and including the SNP stopping of Scottish pensioners' Winter Fuel Payment and replacing it with a £100 substitute from next year, this has been another victory for SNP presentation. Maybe the SNP think the Spad Army they recruited at horrendous expense are working wonders. For anyone with the ability to think, I can assure them they are decidedly not.
Alexander McKay, Edinburgh
Rare letters
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Hide AdA rare document was on display on Saturday at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. One of two surviving documents with a personal connection to William Wallace, it’s known as “the Wallace Safe Conduct”. Dated 7 November 1300, it is a letter from King Philip IV of France to his agents at the papal court.
The Franco-Scottish alliance, the “Auld Alliance”, was agreed in 1295 because both nations wanted to curb an expansionist England. After Scotland’s defeat at Falkirk in 1298, Wallace went to France, where Philip IV supported him. In 1305 Wallace was betrayed, captured and taken to London, where he was executed for treason. He was carrying a safe conduct letter from Philip IV. The letter survived and was stored in the Tower of London. It’s now in the UK National Archives and returned to Scotland in 2012 for the first time in 707 years on a two-year loan, which has since been extended. It’s not known what other Scottish records are in England. No one knows where the original Claim of Right Act 1689 is. A precondition of the 1707 Treaty of Union, it guaranteed the sovereignty of the People above a monarch or parliament and forms Scotland’s constitutional basis – popular sovereignty. A nation’s historical records inform its national identity and should be available to the People to read, study and view. The American Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are on permanent public display in Washington, DC. They aren’t as old as Scotland’s records, but a facsimile of important documents should be available to the public.
Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh
Dream job
I have been retired for a few years now but if I ever did enter the job market again, top of my list would be Scottish Health Secretary. Football matches, movie premieres, golf tournaments, all would be in my remit. Best of all, I wouldn’t have a penny to pay because they would all be part of my ministerial duties, and come with door-to-door transport. People may scoff but I would be available in emergency situations, for example if an Aberdeen player was injured I could run on to the pitch with a bucket of water and a magic sponge. Yes, my dream job.
Ian Balloch, Grangemouth, Falkirk
Roof count
Last year the Centre for Cities think-tank said government failure had left the UK short of a staggering 4.3 million homes, a deficit that would take at least 50 years to fill. That was before a Migration Watch forecast that, without immigration being reduced considerably, the UK population would rise by at least 16 million by 2046 so even more homes would be needed.
Michael Baird, Bonar Bridge, Highland
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