Readers' Letters: Remembrance in schools should include peace studies

A reader fears the focus of Remembrance Day commemorations in too many schools is the glorification of war

As part of Remembrance Day commemorations, I attended a very moving morning assembly at a primary school. The children sang a heartbreaking peace anthem entitled No War Will Stop Us Singing. Afterwards, a grandparent voiced my unspoken thoughts when they asked ruefully whether we’d ever learn. And the lyrics of the song didn’t inspire confidence that this would happen: “If our lives are taken, we’ll sing from beyond the grave.”

When are schools going to shake off the state-imposed obligation to glorify and revere war as some sort of noble sacrifice? I believe that, as well as the sacrifice of their ancestors, schools need to teach children about the lessons to be learned from our frequent global conflicts. Otherwise the fallen will indeed have died in vain.

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The Scottish Government should enact legislation to ensure that schools promote conflict resolution, peace campaigning and understanding as part of Remembrance teaching, instead of simply reinforcing jingoistic military death cults.

First Minister John Swinney lays a wreath during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Stone of Remembrance outside the City Chambers in Edinburgh. (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)First Minister John Swinney lays a wreath during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Stone of Remembrance outside the City Chambers in Edinburgh. (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
First Minister John Swinney lays a wreath during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Stone of Remembrance outside the City Chambers in Edinburgh. (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Bruce Whitehead, Edinburgh

Whipping boys

Where now for British politics now that far-right populist Donald Trump has defeated soft-left Kamala Harris in the race for the White House?

With non-committal acceptance of Mr Trump’s victory, Holyrood’s Unionist politicians quietly listened to Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney mincing his words instead of being truthful about the politics of America’s new President. Not so for the Greens’ Patrick Harvie, who called out what he and many of us believed were Mr Trump’s wrongdoings.

Cynics quickly pointed out that it was easy for Mr Harvie to tell it as it is because he has little chance of becoming Scotland’s First Minister. Mr Harvie’s summary encapsulated a problem in our ‘democraticd system. Elected politicians too easily whipped into line, told what to think, told when to talk and told when to remain silent. This problem is not just a problem for Holyrood, it is also evident at Westminster.

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Many voters accept this corruption and knowingly or unknowingly vote against altruistic policies in favour of self-interest disguised as policies for a stronger economy. Under our present system of free market neo-liberalism a strong economy can often not work for everyone.

Another problem facing democracies is how is how the term ‘woke’ has been weaponised and its true meaning twisted. This has failed British voters who struggle to know or even try to find out the true meaning of the word. American voters have fallen harder for this subterfuge.

Jack Fraser, Musselburgh, East Lothian

Voting intentions

With her sweeping and surely unmatched knowledge of why tens of millions of individual American voters spread over thousands of square miles chose as they did in the recent presidential election, the usually admirable Susan Dalgety (Scotsman, 9 November) reveals a special gift. Perhaps she could pass on the winning numbers for the next Lottery.

Much better surely to accept the result what it for what it was – like it or not, a reasonably fair expression of views of the majority of the electorate who took part – democracy in action.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Slave labour

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Whilst it is in some ways interesting – and possibly instructive – to compare the construction of the Pantheon in Rome to the Edinburgh tram network (Scotsman Comment, 8 November), can we remember that Rome had enormous amounts of slave labour – often around five to ten slaves to each Roman citizen.

Had Edinburgh Council access to around five million slaves, then I daresay we could have built the tram network faster. However, we live in different times now.

Dave McCloud, Sydney, Australia

Interest rates

The prospect of fewer rate cuts over a longer time frame took some of the gloss off last week’s welcome announcement by the Bank of England of a 0.25 per cent reduction in interest rates. This is not the news that the 1.2 million homeowners re-mortgaging next year or the expected 320,000 first-time house buyers were hoping for.

More perplexing perhaps, are the revised prospects for inflation. Forecasters now foresee inflation as higher than pre-Budget due to the combined effect of Rachel Reeves £40 billion tax hike and the £28bn to be borrowed from the bond markets. How so?

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Firstly, 62 per cent of this tax hike will fall on business, especially micro-businesses (employing fewer than ten people), small businesses (employing fewer than 50 people) and medium-sized business (employing fewer than 250 people). These are the backbone of the UK’s private sector. However, around 80 per cent of these businesses practice cost-plus pricing. So expect some of the additional cost of the rise in National Insurance contributions to be passed on to customers.

Second, by definition, government borrowing increases the money supply. As the forecasters assert, borrowing on this scale can be inflationary. Furthermore, the bond market has judged UK Inc to be a higher risk post-Budget: the yield on ten-year gilts, an important lead indicator for lenders, was up 30 basis points in the week following the budget. Were this to continue, the cost of borrowing rises for everyone, not just for government.

Finally, price increases may be moderating, but the cumulative effects of an extended period of high inflation is still being felt by households. The prospect of inflationary pressures rising next year will shape expectations in the next round of wage settlements, thereby risking the onset of yet another wage-price spiral. Of course, sustained real growth would ease all of this. But who knows where that will come from!

Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire

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