In the surely justified outrage after this incident, the police said they intended to trace the person holding the placard and take the necessary action. Despite clear video and close-up evidence of the perpetrator, surely easily identifiable, the person involved to my knowledge has not been located or charged.

Contrast this with the almost immediate reaction and detection and charge of the man who shouted ‘’deviant’’ at Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens.

There is something, surely, very badly wrong with justice in Scotland under the present SNP/Green administration.

Police sprang into action when a man shouted a hateful term at Scottish Green party co-leader Patrick Harvie (Picture: Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Empathy needed

In his latest letter, regular contributor Malcolm Parkin, now in his eighties, recalls childhood memories of distressing public addiction in Edinburgh long before drugs had been “invented”, because people had turned to drink to help relieve them of whatever misery affected them at the time (29 August).

Now in my nineties, my personal memories of the 1930s are that the public realised that what was called The Great War was the cause of the suffering and the addiction, so there was then a great deal of sympathy and concern for the victims.

Edinburgh’s Grassmarket had become a haunt and gathering place for otherwise isolated wounded and war-damaged ex-soldiers now dependent on alcohol. The Church of Scotland set up a night shelter for (some of) the homeless. As a member of Greyfriars Parish Church, my Nana – while bringing up four sons in a room and kitchen with common toilet on the landing – took her turn at helping to provide Sunday breakfasts and included in her weekly shopping list a stick of tobacco she could give some poor soul.

Sadly, such understanding and empathy did not always continue with even do-gooders of subsequent generations. What a shock and a lesson I got when in the 1950s I was asked by the district nurse to help turn the emaciated body of my father-in-law whose fits of drunkenness over decades had caused so much anger in the family, and there before my eyes were three lumps of shrapnel from the 1914-18 war jutting up, a reminder of what he’d gone through and had had to live with.

If it is indeed the case that a higher proportion of Scots than other Brits served in both wars and conflicts since, perhaps this goes some way to explaining why addiction is higher here than elsewhere.

(Rev) Jack Kellet, Innerleithen, Scottish Borders

Blame Brexit

Businessman Rocco Forte complains about the loss of tax-free shopping in Scotland, compared to all other EU countries (Perspective, 31 August).

But Sir Rocco was a very public supporter of Brexit, which has been a disaster for Scottish tourism and the UK economy as a whole. Sir Rocco says “unhappily the UK government is struggling to achieve any growth at all” but this is more to do with the very hard Brexit inflicted on Scotland against its will, by the likes of him, than a few tourists wishing to claim a bit of tax back on their holiday souvenirs! Many of us warned at the time that Brexit was likely to backfire but were ignored too!

David Adams, Edinburgh

Tiny tourist tax

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, my wife and I had to pay over €79 tourist tax. This was based on four nights in a very modest hotel. The rate was €3 per person per night, plus 7 per cent of the hotel charge (excluding breakfast). We thought this was a bit steep.

Is it now time to tax tourists coming to Edinburgh – although not as high as this? Then perhaps Princes Street could get a decent pavement, fewer "cobbled" streets would be patched with tar, and the main road to the airport could have fewer potholes.

Ed Ronaldson, Dunfermline, Fife

Closed for business

The tourist industry accounts for seven per cent of Scottish employment and the SNP's policy on short-term lets is likely to end the availability of places for the tourists to stay when they are here, so forget those jobs. Out of 32,000 short-term let providers, only 2,587 had signed up by late March and of 12,000 such lets in Edinburgh, there had been 90 applications. In Glasgow the figure was only 78!

Perhaps the SNP should erect a sign at the border saying “Scotland is closed for business. Go away”. In Gaelic, naturally!

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Clear source

Jill Stephenson (Letters, 1 September) queries the source of the data in my letter of 31 August, suggesting they come from a Scottish nationalist propaganda publication. If she deems the UK Treasury a source of Scottish nationalist “propaganda”, she would be right.

I was clear about the source – the UK Government's Revenue and Expenditure for England, Scotland and Ireland, published from 1900-1921. If Ms Stephenson is the historian she claims to be, she should be able to verify this easily enough.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh

Fine forecast

Jill Stephenson is at the very least, in her own words, “cavalier” when she dismisses the Republic of Ireland’s much better economic performance compared to the UK. The Irish Government, without Scotland’s vast energy resources, is predicted to run a national budget surplus this year, and forecast to add up to £56.3 billion over the next four years.

This is not Irish blarney or from a “Scottish nationalist propaganda publication” but a BBC article, “Why has Ireland got so much surplus cash?” published on 8 August.

Fraser Grant, Edinburgh

No propping

Leah Gunn Barrett is once again guilty of promoting the misconception that, somehow, Scotland props up the rest of the UK.

It is true that Scotland gets “back” about half the tax revenue that it raises. That is to cover the policy areas devolved to Holyrood. However, government expenditure doesn't end there. Most Whitehall departments (MoD, FCO, GCHQ etc) spend for the whole of the UK (including Scotland) and Scotland therefore has to make a contribution. Not a penny from Holyrood goes to the army, navy or air force bases located in Scotland (all paid for by MoD) just as not a penny from Holyrood goes to the global network of UK embassies and consulates that serve Scottish travellers and businesses around the world (all paid for by FCO).

The ONS recently did a survey of government expenditure and revenue for the nations and regions of the UK. It showed only three of England's nine regions were net contributors to the exchequer (London, South East England and East England). London is by far the biggest tax generator and that money is spent for the benefit of the whole UK. Scotland was in the same position as six English regions, Wales and Northern Ireland as a net beneficiary. Of England's nine regions, seven have larger populations – and more taxpayers – than Scotland.

Even the Scottish Government's own GERS figures estimate that £19bn more is spent in (or on behalf of) Scotland than is raised in taxes.

If Scotland were to leave the UK it would have to duplicate many of the Whitehall departments that it currently shares costs with and (operating from a narrow tax base) would either have to make hugerises in taxes or massive cuts in public services.

Peter Lewis, Edinburgh

Secularism is bad

Once again Neil Barber of Edinburgh Secular Society eulogises about the removal of religion from the public square, and the education system in particular (Letters, 31 August). He has constantly presented his case against religious representatives on Edinburgh’s Education Committee as anti-democratic. For him democracy relies only on votes rather than representation.

This is a superficial and naive view of the democratic process and paves the way to dictatorship and intolerance. Secularism is neither neutral nor unbiased. It carries within itself an anti-supernaturalism presupposition that seeks to dissolve religious belief in the acids of its rationalism. Secular rationalism has brought us postmodern relativism, which is proving itself wholly irrational.

Moral judgments are no longer made on a rational basis as there is no standard by which actions can be judged. Instead it becomes a power struggle between identities. This lies at the root of the problem of deplatforming which is becoming prevalent throughout our society. Secularism is the fundamentalism of our age. As it gains a greater foothold on our zeitgeist, as with all types of fundamentalism, it forces its thinking on us all, whether we agree or not. This kind of intolerance knows no bounds. Removing the voting rights of the religious representatives is just a symptom of a far greater problem.

The freedom of thought that we have enjoyed is being eroded. The education system has been the battleground for many years. Secularism seems to have won the day – but at what cost? The secular state will force its views on children and parents alike. No dissent will be tolerated. The removal of the religious reps from the Education Committee is a bad day for our children and for us all.

Eric J Scott, Currie, Edinburgh

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Readers' Letters: One rule for government politician, another for so-called TERFs

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