Readers' Letters: Time to bring back Civil Defence Corps?

National Service volunteers in 1953 at a Civil Defence training centre at Taymouth Castle near Aberfeldy, with tools stored in the emergency vans

While we hear rallying calls from our leaders about “Boots on the Ground” and Planes in the Air”, we hear nothing about “Man the Pumps” and “Heave awa’ Lads”. Fifty-seven years ago this month, Harold Wilson’s government called a halt to excessive local government expenditure and one of the first cuts to be made saw the disbandment of the Civil Defence Corps and the Auxiliary Fire Service. These two units had well-

As a former Auxiliary Fireman I, along with many of my former colleagues, rue that day. We augmented the regular and retained brigade and learned the art of firefighting and rescue from them.

However, our main objective was to be able to supply large quantities of water both for firefighting purposes and for drinking water (in case of contamination from nuclear fallout). Had our service not been disbanded, I can think of many areas where we could have continued to augment the professionals, especially with regard to flooding and for pumping water to areas where local supplies were stretched. In the case of the Civil Defence Corps, they had the ability to act as wardens in areas under attack and to provide a valuable addition to the rescue efforts of the fire service.

I’m sure that there is a blueprint lurking in the offices of Government ready to be put into action in the case of attack. However, with the present sabre rattling, has the time not come to dust off the pages and to think seriously about reinstating Civil Defence?

J Lindsay Walls, Edinburgh

Unwise idea

I was completely taken aback when I read in The Scotsman of 5 March that the Scottish Conservatives are proposing the minimum school leaving age be reduced from 16 to 14. Their plan includes the suggestion less academic pupils would leave school at the end of S2 and spend the following two years attending vocational courses, either in college or in apprenticeships.

Such a policy change would be a wholly unwelcome and backward step. Conservatives appear to believe that the key purpose of education is preparation for employment. It is of course the case that schools must do this, but that is certainly neither their only purpose, nor their most important one. Schools have a much wider and richer range of aims, which include helping pupils to reach their full potential, developing pupils intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially, teaching pupils to think critically and behave ethically, and encouraging pupils to become good citizens with sound values. Narrowing the programme for some 14 and 15-year-olds is a direct assault on the established purposes of education.

Professor Lindsay Paterson has described the Conservative proposals as "half thought through" and the Cabinet Secretary for Education has called them "Dickensian". These are fairly generous comments and I would undoubtedly use stronger language if I were invited to describe the proposals in a nutshell. I do, however, agree with Prof Paterson that a “better curriculum” should be provided for less academic pupils. In the meantime, I do hope fervently the proposals of the Scottish Conservatives are seen as unwise and unwelcome and that they are not given serious consideration.

(Dr) Ivor Sutherland, Peebles, Scottish Borders

Agenda bending

The Scottish NHS is, we are told, under extreme pressure. There are health boards deep in deficit. Yet what is NHS Scotland’s priority? Supporting financially a quango (yes, another one) called NHS Education for Scotland (NES). Does NES provide education in medical matters? No, its remit is the preparation of “internal training materials for NHS staff” on the importance of respecting how “people identify”. For example, it states that people can decide for themselves “whether they identify as disabled”.

An NES spokesperson said: “The cultural humility e-learning module and resource pack have been designed to support the development of cultural humility values, attitudes and behaviours to promote inclusion and health for all”. What this has to do with health is anyone’s guess, but at its heart is the apparently irresistible march of “gender” ideology through our public institutions. This endorses “gender-neutral” lavatories because “they promote equality by eliminating the need for people to conform to traditional gender norms”. In addition, the module asserts that staff “have a duty (under equality law) to use the correct name and pronouns” for those presenting as males but who have self-identified as female. there is no law mandating use of a person’s “preferred pronouns”.

Now that recent international events are making an increase in the defence budget necessary, is it not high time quangos and initiatives such as NES were disbanded? The people in authority who licensed such quangos and initiatives need to have their contracts reviewed, if not terminated.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Bin there

I've just read that NHS Scotland have told their staff that they must treat bearded male colleagues as women, if they identify as female. They further state that staff can decide for themselves "whether they identify as disabled".

Reminds me of the Glasgow boy whose girlfriend told him she wanted to identify as a wheelie bin. He didn't know whether to take her out on a Tuesday or a Thursday.

Jim Houston, Edinburgh

Personal stake

Leah Gunn Barrett writes often in support of Scottish nationalism, so I was amazed to read her taking the Trump line about the existential war in Ukraine (Letters, 6 March), which is all about its survival as an independent state.

Also amazing was her critique of the EU diplomat Kaja Kallas. As a previous Estonian prime minister there is no doubt history informs Kallas's views about Russian policy regarding the states on its border. After gaining independence from Tsarist Russia after the First World War, Estonia lost it as part of the Nazi-Soviet pact. Not long after the country had been reincorporated into the USSR after the Second World War, her mother had been transported to Siberia as a baby.

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

Follow the logic

A major breakthrough in new antibiotics to combat the scourge of the superbug has been made by the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Does this mean those who keep protesting in favour of Hamas, or the “celebrities” who want the BBC children of Gaza programme shown again, or even those forcing a Glasgow cinema to ban a soft drink because of its connections with Israel would refuse potential life-saving treatment because of this connection to Israel too?

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Talk is cheap

In Tuesday's debate on Scotland's Renewable Future in the Scottish Parliament several MSPs continually referred to wind energy as “cheap”. This is demonstrably not true. Whatever their ideological views on renewables, politicians must at least be honest with the public about the total cost to consumers and the economy of their current energy policies.

Costs involved in wind farm development include the direct subsidies paid to developers under the Contract for Difference scheme; the cost of upgrading the transmission network to accommodate wind energy which is generated far from the end user; the constraint payments paid to developers to turn off turbines when the grid cannot cope; the balancing cost to keep the grid stable in real time when intermittent renewables enter the system; and the cost of keeping gas power plants on standby to pick up the slack when the wind does not blow. At the very least the media should be holding the politicians to account and be constantly calling them out on references to “cheap” or “free” wind power.

K Coltart, Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway

Stop meddling

I have no gripe with the Scottish Humanist Society. The work they do in providing services at weddings and funerals is to be commended and, having attended many of both, I know they bring great solace and happiness to many.

However, as the title suggests, it is a society, one which can be voluntarily joined. On that basis, I would advise that they keep their noses out of religion in schools.

Rachel Amery’s article “SNP Government 'scared of upsetting the church' over school religious assemblies” (6 March) shows the level of meddling involved – in schools and politics. One quote sums up this intrusive policy. “Young people are not able to independently make this decision [to opt out religious activities] for themselves and a recent Government consultation didn’t make any changes despite evidence from children’s rights groups.”

Who are these “groups”?

All children have the right to be brought up in a loving caring environment, to have food on the table and safety in the home and the wider community. A good education is also a prerequisite.

Until such times as they can vote, marry, join the armed services, their rights are administered by parents and schools, and have been so since time immemorial. Just as the SNP want 16-year olds to vote, it is because they know full well their minds are lacking in experience, maturity and are more easily influenced by the type of shouty politicians the party is full of.

Stop messing with the next generation and get their education sorted out, instead of indulging in woke righteous politics.

David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line – be specific. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.