Readers' Letters: It's time to cap political donations in the UK
Here’s what UK politicians can learn from Trump’s pounding, says reader
Like Ian Johnston (Perspective, 4 November) I agree that Donald Trump’s humiliation in the US midterms is a lesson for politics here, but for different reasons.
Despite the Republicans bankrolling their candidates to the tune of an estimated $12 billion, of which Elon Musk was the largest single donor, they failed to win the House of Representatives and the Senate.
That seemed quite a shock to Trump who, having claimed his name was on the ballot metaphorically, now claims that if he had been Republicans would have won. Where was his friend Vladimir Putin to influence the election when he needed him most?
Why this matters here is that Nigel Farage, who was noticeably absent from campaigning in support of Trump this time, has attracted donations to Reform UK to the extent that it is now the top-funded party.
Like Trump, Farage is a self-serving nationalist who is also not averse to defending the indefensible. The midterms provide hope that money can’t buy power, with some of the richest men in the world failing to win influence through eye-watering donations.
While it’s heartening that the US is sending its first Muslim to the Senate, Westminster already has 25 Muslim MPs and 30 Muslim candidates stood for election to Holyrood. It’s clear we do some things better, so surely it’s time to cap political donations so democracy wins out over corruption here in the UK.
Neil Anderson, Edinburgh
Licking Mail crisis
As a non-NHS key worker who delivered groceries during the pandemic and now works for Royal Mail, I believe a liking for political debate should not be confused for a liking for political parties or politicians.
I respect the difficult job they have to do but at times I wish they would stop party politicking on issues such as the NHS, education and the oil and gas industry.
However, instead of constantly complaining and being patronising to the “hard working posties” or the “wonderful NHS” I value more those who have a genuine interest on the ground. It is why, although I am not a Labour Party member or voter, it is good to see the government taking a Golden Share in Royal Mail, and the talks that took place between CWU, Royal Mail and government to try to sort out the issues that have affected a once great public service.
Peter Ovenstone, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
Serious problems
John Swinney is incapable of making an obvious decision over Rosebank oil field so what are the chances of his government fixing our broken A&E services (“A&E services face collapse as winter hits, SNP warned”, 4 November)?
If an easy choice escapes the SNP then the more difficult becomes well nigh impossible. Every year we get the warnings of impending doom in our NHS and every year they fall upon deaf ears.
The reason is simple. If you have those at the top of government unable to understand when a problem is pressing, such as the A&E crisis, and when a problem should be shelved, such as wanting independence, then the result is a foregone conclusion: chaos. The SNP is not capable of sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Nothing will change until there is a different administration at Holyrood. How many lost lives will that take? Serious problems require a serious government.
Gerald Edwards, Glasgow
Wind fantasies
There’s a whiff of desperation blowing in the wind. Has the UK government suddenly woken up and realised that building wind turbines in remote areas far from the point of need could potentially make consumers poorer? Cue wailing from those who have been milking the public money cash cow for far too long. The wind industry has once again commissioned Biggar Economics to write a report for them.
A report that attempts to convince the paying public that we need treble the amount of current onshore wind in Scotland but fails to mention how much more infrastructure will be needed to support it. Scottish Energy Minister Stephen Gethins is first out of the traps to tell us that onshore wind is the cheapest form of energy, without any evidence whatsoever to back the statement up.
The consequences of wind are never added to the overall financial burden it creates for consumers. Not only are the costs and emissions of essential 24/7 back-up and battery storage not included, nor are billions paid in constraints, the massive infrastructure it requires or the mindboggling payments made to reliable generators to keep the lights on and industry running when wind fails.
The tired old fantasy promise about jobs is in there as usual but how many will actually materialise or just be a temporary post during construction? There certainly won’t be enough to warrant the scale of destruction of the environment those with vested interests would like to wreak on rural Scotland.
The report also omits the damage done to landscapes, wildlife and communities, the financial hardship imposed on those forced to live beside industrial developments and the ever-growing burden placed on consumers and taxpayers.
The biggest omission of all is the simple fact that weather-dependent wind generation cannot be instructed to provide electricity when it is needed. The only reliable thing about wind power is its unreliability.
Imagine, if you will, the milkman who delivers 20 pints when you want one, one pint when you have asked for six and sometimes doesn't turn up at all. Most people would find another milkman.
The wind industry, in its “wisdom”, has commissioned a report to explain why we should order three times more milk. Sixty pints when you want one, three pints when you asked for six and three times nothing is still nothing. The milkman keeps getting the order wrong and, apparently, the answer is to order more milk.
If this is the industry's idea of economic analysis, perhaps it is time someone checked whether the milkman can count – or is even capable of delivering what’s required.
Lyndsey Ward, Communities B4 Power Companies, Beauly, Highland
Strike price
In her letter of 4 November on energy costs Eileen West asks the question, “Does a generating system deliver reliable power at a cost the country can afford?”
In the case of renewable energy the answer is No. If the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow the 18GW of renewable plant installed to meet a maximum Scottish demand of 4GW does not produce a single unit of electricity.
That gives rise to two problems The first is that the SNP have to depend on the output of English gas turbines to keep the lights on. Not good for a party pushing for independence.
The second factor is the cost. In 2019 the strike price for wind output was £42/MWhr, resulting in a unit price of 16p, ie comparable with prices in the EU.
However, the renewables sector claimed such a price meant they were operating at a loss, hence Ofgem increased the strike price to £73 per MWhr. The result? The unit price jumped to 26p, making Scotland uncompetitive in export markets such as refinery costs, bus manufacturing and chemical production.
What the SNP never declares is that the strike price for floating wind farm output is £213 per MWhr. That will increase the unit price to 40p, resulting in a spike in the number of Scots living in fuel poverty and the demise of all high energy business units in Scotland.
Ian Moir, Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway
Scarlet sheet
The poppy as a symbol of war and remembrance has a very long history, in Scotland as well as elsewhere. On 17 June 1694, the Earl of Perth, the Jacobite former Chancellor of Scotland, wrote to his sister in Aberdeenshire about his travels in exile through Europe.
"Next day we came to Tirlemont to dinner, haveing come betwixt Lieve and Landen, over the field where the battle was fought last year. The ground that's cultivated has two stalks of that popie which you call cock-poses for one of grain; and where it is lying untilled a scarlet sheet is not of a deeper dye nor seems more smooth than all the ground is with those flowers, as if last year's blood had taken root and appeared this year in flowers. There we could see heads and bones of limbs, skellets [skeletons] of horses, old hatts, shoes, holsters, sadles, &c. here and there over the field.”
Sadly, the scarlet sheet was to spread over the very same fields again in 1793, in 1914 and in 1940. Let us not forget.
Hugh Ouston, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire
That’s the wonder...
Another year, another weird Christmas ad from John Lewis, accompanied by claims from daytime TV and red top newspapers that “we” have all been waiting with bated breath to see what sentimental tosh the shop's marketing people could come up with this year. Does anyone really want a three-minute “mini-movie” that barely bears a single viewing?
And of course, other shops will be getting in on the act, with their own snowy efforts (although I do rather like Aldi's Kevin the Carrot).
It's a shame Woolworth's isn't still around, they didn't faff around with “messages” – the only feeling their ads of old cared about was the feeling when you poured the contents of a tin of Quality Street down your gob. It was always a treat to see the likes of June Whitfield, Barry Sheen and Leslie Crowther skipping down the aisles in panto mode, gleefully showing us the latest in Carmen rollers and carriage clocks. That’s the wonder of Woollies!
Steven Robertson, Musselburgh, East Lothian
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