Readers' Letters: Starmer fooling himself if he thinks he can 'smash' gangs

Can Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer solve the problem of small boats coming to the UK loaded with illegal immigrants? (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

“I will smash the criminal smuggling gangs,” Keir Starmer has repeatedly stated. This from a man who spent a large part of his life working in a legal system which, across the last 195 years, has failed to do just that.

So what makes him confident these criminals are any less agile when it comes to frustrating the efforts of the UK forces out to thwart their activities?

Criminal gangs never go out of business; they change and adapt and always beat the system. Starmer will fail to stop the smugglers while there is money to be made and the prize for the immigrants remains attractive without any real deterrent once their feet hit UK soil.

Stan Hogarth, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire

Poor show

I gave up having children over 50 years ago so child benefits are not my greatest concern. However, what does concern me is the SNP claim that they have lifted tens of thousands of children out of poverty. Do the recipients of child benefits have to account for where that money has been spent? If not, how can the SNP be certain that it was spent on the child?

Stephen Flynn is working himself into a lather because the Westminster government didn't give in to his demands for this benefit to be extended, but one has only to look at the obscene amount of money being poured into the Clyde for two ferry boats to know that the SNP have little regard for checks on where the public taxes are being spent.

Bruce Proctor, Newtonhill, Stonehaven

Path to progress

What a very interesting and informative insight into history Mark Tennant has provided (Letters, 25 July), although it appears that his history lessons did not go as far back as the Norman acquisition of Scottish lands!

As he acknowledges, the disastrous Darien Scheme did result in the Act of Union, and it is a story of dirty tricks and bribery undermining the efforts of the Scottish East India Company to trade. English representatives were forbidden by Royal proclamation to trade with the Scots. The doomed choice of Darien as a base was made by the founder of the Bank of England, William Paterson. After many tragedies and fatalities, the company was wound up and many, mostly London-based, investors were awarded compensation. The Act of Union was then inevitable.

Colonial rule is another interesting subject raised by Mark Tennant, who states that none of the colonies provided England with a King, and seems to assume that British monarchy was eagerly sought by conquered peoples whose exploited lands contributed so much to British wealth.

These native peoples had their own cultures, many had their own monarchies. War, repression and exploitation enlarged the British Empire. Respect, cooperation and exchange of ideas could have enabled understanding, allowing all to contribute towards the development of our world. Ironically, many Brits today fear their own cultural heritage is under threat!

As Mark Tennant states, many who live in the Highlands do have a good understanding of the rural environment, but sadly, progress and initiatives are often inhibited by outdated and repressive systems based elsewhere. Without discussion of our differences and listening to voices of protest we achieve nothing.

Society needs devolved responsibility, plus respect and cooperation within these united kingdoms if we are to make worthwhile progress.

Jenny Main, Elgin, Moray

Wasted time

It would seem we are no further forward and that a bin strike looms involving local authority workers who are members of the GMB, Unison and Unite unions. The GMB has stated that they had submitted their pay claim in January and that Cosla waited until May to produce an offer, which was subsequently rejected. As I have asked previously on these pages, why had there been no meaningful talks since May? Refuse collection is the most basic and fundamental service which our local authorities carry out and for which we pay Council tax.

It astounds me that there is no urgency in these negotiations by Cosla when we know the dire consequences of such a strike – communities submerged under a deluge of foul-smelling rat-infested filth, which is a real health hazard to our citizens, visitors and a threat to local businesses, especially restaurateurs. And then there’s the image this portrays to the world at Festival time!

We learned on Monday that a revised offer of 3.2 per cent has been made by Cosla and rejected by Unison, who stated that Cosla had initially refused to make representations to the Scottish Government about the necessity for increased funding for local government to try to resolve this dispute. Why? As I write it has been reported that a meeting of the three parties is scheduled to take place soon. Some evidence of urgency at last!

Meanwhile First Minister John Swinney dithers and absolves himself of all responsibility whatsoever in his Pontius Pilate role by stating that “pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities as employers and unions” and that he and the Scottish Government has no formal role. This is in spite of the fact that this is a strike which is being carried out nationally across Scotland (in 16 local authorities), the country of which he is First Minister. Must we wait until the bins all overflow and the rubbish piles high before he decides to intervene? Perhaps he and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, whose economy remit covers this area, are using the Parliamentary recess to dodge their accountability to elected members.

Unison further stated that over the last 14 years employees have seen their wages reduced by 25 per cent. If this is the case it is truly shocking, for it is both a dirty and physically demanding job carried out in all weathers.

Moreover, refuse workers in England have recently settled for a 5 per cent wage increase. This begs another really important question: Why is there no such mechanism as an independent pay review body to arbitrate and try to resolve this dispute, a procedure which exists in other areas of the economy? And why have efforts not been made to establish one since our previous experience of 2022?

Where is your leadership in this emergency, Mr Swinney?

Jim Park, Edinburgh

Eternal problem

It is surely more than coincidence that in The Scotsman of July 24 there should be both a letter concerning millionaire property in London from Rodney Pinder and an article about the cash-strapped Church of Scotland putting up for sale the moderator's flat at 2 Rothesay Terrace, described as one of the most prestigious districts of Edinburgh.

Mr Pinder's description of himself as “home rich, but cash short” could equally apply to the dilemma the church faces. I am surely not the only one who feels uneasy that the Church of Scotland is so involved in the home rich, cash short world of inflated property prices, to the extent of being one of the largest property owners in Scotland.

The moderator's flat is not a million miles away from another city centre property in an even more prestigious area, which acts as its headquarters at 121 George Street, in the home rich category.

All the while, Jesus’s words come to haunt me – “You cannot serve God and Mammon”, steeped in his own experience of having nowhere to lay his head. Dare we follow his example or face the prospect that no matter how much mammon we have, we still feel painfully short of cash.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Self limiting

Are my letters invisible? Paul Lewis (Letters, July 24) thinks the two-child benefit cap sensible, noting that environmentalists advocate limiting families to two children “to help save the planet” (two children per family is not a danger to the planet – the present danger is global warming).

Tim Flinn (Letters, July 25), believing that overpopulation is the danger, advocates parents having only two children.

However, in my letter of July 19 I pointed out that already the average UK birth rate is only 1.58 per woman while the average replacement rate needed to maintain the present population is 2.08. This is because not every family has two children. Only 41 per cent of families have two children, while 14 per cent have three or more and 43 per cent have no children living with them. The population is being maintained, even increased, by immigration and people living longer. Over the next 15 years, the UK population is projected to grow by 6.6 million people (a 9.9 per cent increase), reaching an estimated 73.7m by mid-2036. This growth includes 541,000 more births than deaths and net international migration of 6.1m people. By mid-2026 the population is expected to reach 70m.Calls for limits on family size are misguided. On average parents already limit their family size, probably for financial reasons. No matter what individual families do, population growth is inevitable.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

Happy horses

Malcolm Parkin suggests horses don’t enjoy the “grotesquerie” of dressage (Letters, July 25).

I would like to say that a lot of the movements are what horses will do naturally when feeling full of themselves.

I can remember my pony (a stout and steady one) performing the extended trot, the passage and even a quick pirouette when she was loose in a field and full of joie de vivre. It is not the movements that are grotesque, it is the use of the whip to make the horse do them that is grotesque, he is absolutely right about that.

Helen Kirkness, Roslin, Midlothian

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