Readers' Letters: Don't wear poppies in October and they'll have more meaning
Too many people are wearing their poppies too early, says reader.
While we should certainly respect our war dead throughout the year, does it not dilute the significance of Remembrance Day when public figures and TV pundits wear poppies from as early as three or more weeks before 11 November?
But wearing them from 1 November until noon on 12 November (or on the day after Remembrance Sunday when that is later than Armistice Day) would better reflect the continuously forward-looking nature of those moving lines of Laurence Binyon: “At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them” and of the Kohima Epitaph: “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today”.
John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife
Snouts in trough
Unbelievably, the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body has agreed an increase of 20 per cent for committee chairs in recognition of the work they do. That’s 20 per cent at a time when the Scottish Budget is facing a £5 billion “black hole”, which is twice as big, relatively, as the supposed £20bn black hole Rachel Reeves faced two years ago, and growing as the SNP has no plan to fill the black hole. While most of us face below Retail Price Index increases in our salaries or pensions, there seems to be no such limit to the generosity of the Corporate Body with our money.
Next, of course, will be the bleating from local authorities about how they need to pick our pockets, and even in an election year most of us can expect 5 per cent increases in our council tax despite increases of up to 20 per cent over the last three years, well above the rate of inflation. Public bodies must learn to live within their means. Flat budgets, or at the worst, budgets increasing by no more than the Consumer Price Index. We cannot continue with the Labour government, the SNP in Scotland and local authorities taking a bigger and bigger chunk of our income.
I suspect it’s unlikely to happen given not just the idiocy of the 20 per cent increase, but the total lack of awareness of its impact on how the Parliament is perceived. Snouts in the trough for politicians – one rule for them, another for the long-suffering taxpayer.
Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothian
Firework damage
The Scotsman editorial yesterday is spot on in saying it's time to think again about Bonfire Night, and that consideration should be given to an outright ban on the sale of fireworks to the public. But apart from the health and safety aspect there is also the financial cost of this totally unnecessary expenditure.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service lists 78 organised fireworks displays throughout Scotland this week. An organised display by a professional company will cost between £250 and £500 a minute. If we take the lower number and a 30-minute display, that will cost £7,500. The higher figure and an hour-long display would cost £30,000. Even if we stick to the low figure and a short 30-minute display, the total cost of the 78 displays in Scotland would be half a billion pounds.
I suspect England would have had more displays per head of population than Scotland given that the original Guy Fawkes celebration was to “celebrate” the execution of a terrorist attempting to bomb the Houses of Parliament.
However, if we stick to the pro rata population difference between the two countries as 10 to 1, and a short 30-minute display, then England would spend £5 billion on fireworks. It is probably much higher when non-public use is taken into account. Should we really be squandering this sum on events which actually cause harm?
I said harm: harm to domestic and wild animals, and to the environment and harm to veterans who suffer flashbacks. Last week the BBC quoted a soldier who had been wounded in Afghanistan as saying that the sound of fireworks replicated that of Kalashnikov AK 47 assault rifles which fire at 10 rounds per second on automatic fire. “It’s the same crackle”, he said.
Do we really need to inflict this on our veterans?
William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire
Explosive issue
Yet again, as on all recent November 5ths, thousands of police and firemen are called out to deal with gangs of feral youths running wild on city streets and armed with all manner of rockets and other explosive devices.
And, as always, authorities say “it is intolerable and perpetrators will be severely dealt with”. But next year is always the same. Yet the solution is so simple and will cost nothing. Ban all fireworks apart from those used in official displays. As all these fireworks are manufactured in China there will be no jobs lost in the UK. Additionally there will be savings of millions of pounds in police and fire service overtime across the UK.
James Duncan, Edinburgh
Is it April?
When The Scotsman reported that: “SNP U-turn on new oil and gas drilling is confirmed” (6 November) I had to check that it was not the 1st of April. Suddenly the Scottish government is saying it is better for the planet to harvest our own oil and gas rather than import it. At long long last the penny has dropped.
One must wonder what the 15 Green MSPs will do now. Complain, certainly, but they are fighting a losing battle since the world is not listening to the climate brigade.
Other countries continue to exploit fossil fuels. Russia, Iran, China and Qatar are the foremost gas-rich countries. The ten top oil rich countries are Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, Russia, US, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. The coal-rich countries are the USA, Russia, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Countries are buying their products so it looks as though climate change has been relegated to the back (gas) burner.
Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian
Spoiling view
Edinburgh is not only Scotland's capital city but a World Heritage Site. This means that the people of Scotland are custodians of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It seems incredible to me that Midlothian Council and concerned residents like me have been having to fight the government for over 20 years to preserve its setting. Not only that, but the Pentland Hills, iconic “Hills of Home”, have had to be protected.
It is now crunch time. Are the people of Scotland going to continue to be custodians or are they happy to let the setting of their capital city be ruined with giant turbines now up to 230m high? There are two applications: Cloich Forest wind farm on the go since 2015, now with nine turbines 150m high, a few miles over the border in the Scottish Borders region; and Torfichen wind farm, 18 turbines, 180m high along the Moorfoot Scarp.
Cloich Forest is three miles away from the defeated Auchencorth wind farm application and a couple from the defeated Spurlens Rig wind farm.
Torfichen is the other side of the Gladhouse Reservoir to the defeated Mount Lothian wind farm. Four Government Reporters have said this area is not suitable for large-scale turbines.
Bowbeat wind farm, the other side of the scarp of the Moorfoots, close to Cloich Forest, was erected in 2003 with turbines 80m tall. A scoping opinion has been submitted to the Energy Consents Unit for re-powering with nine turbines 230m tall (754ft). For comparison, the tallest freestanding structure and tower in Scotland is the Glasgow Tower standing at 127 metres (417ft). If either Cloich or Torfichen is passed then there will be little reason to stop raising the height of Bowbeat.
There has to be national conversation about this and not leave it to Midlothian to fight this battle. It is too important for the reputation of Scotland.
Celia Hobbs, Penicuik, Midlothian
Stop antisemitism
It is encouraging to see council leaders and university bodies taking a stand against hate. Glasgow City Council has renewed its commitment to tackling antisemitism and all forms of discrimination in schools, strengthening education and support programmes to address these challenges.
Student groups at Glasgow University recently attempted to exclude Jewish and pro-Israel students from campus life. The university's Justice for Palestine Society urged clubs to declare “Zionism will not be tolerated”, launching a “Zionism is Racism” initiative online. This led to several student societies trying to change their constitutions to ban Zionist students. However The Students’ Representative Council firmly rejected this, sending a clear message that discrimination has no place on campus.
Barnet Council in London has also taken a principled stand. They have just passed a motion to twin with the Israeli city of Haifa after Hackney Council, under Green leadership, ended its own twinning arrangement with the city. Barnet’s motion explicitly condemned the Green Party’s “Zionism is Racism” policy, which has been widely criticised by Jewish leaders.
These positive actions are vital, since antisemitic incidents in the UK have surged by 589 per cent since October 2023, the highest ever recorded by the Community Security Trust. The Green Party’s motion has emboldened anti-Zionist groups and led to open discrimination against Jewish identity, prompting an EHRC investigation. Thousands of members have reportedly left the Green Party in protest.
All educational and civic leaders across the UK should follow these examples and ensure antisemitism has no place in our communities.
S Miller, Barnet, London
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