Moreover, the Spaceport consortium already have a base there. In all the plans submitted by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar it has never been satisfactorily explained why Hebrides Range can’t be used for this project, and why a pristine location like Scolpaig should be developed (with public money) instead. It’s worrying, too, that the Scottish Government appears to have rubber stamped the proposal without asking the same question. Most regions of Scotland would be happy (or unhappy) with one rocket launching site, do the Uists really need two?

Colin Anderson, Perth

Green dictators

Western Isles Council - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar - has proposed building a spaceport in North Uist

I am a single pensioner with a limited income and I deeply object to the arrogant idealistic views of a rich MSP who wants to impose expensive heat pumps on Scottish home owners who are struggling with the cost of living as it is.

How exactly does Patrick Harvie expect those of us who do not have massive savings or income to fund this? I had to install a new gas boiler two years ago at a cost of £3,000 which had to be paid for out of my small amount of savings since I did not qualify for a free boiler as, despite being on a low income, I was above the level for pension credit or any other benefits.

It is time that the Green Party got off their high horses and came into the real world. Although I would also like to see the end of pollution and dependency on fossil fuel it seems to me that these policies are being rushed through to meet Net Zero targets which seem to have been set without any thought of how this can realistically be achieved by the date in question.

One can only hope that the next general election sees the end of this dictatorial government which seems oblivious to the views of the electorate.

E Caldwell, Maddiston, Falkirk

Hot air

While not being completely untrue the statements made by Alexander Mackay (Letters, 24 July) are a rehash of tabloid half-truths which deserve to be called out. The “14 million trees felled” story is true. But what has been left out is the fact that this has been over a 20-year period, has been mostly commercially grown non-native trees which may well have been felled for timber anyway, and that in the same period more than 272 million trees were planted across the country (figures provided by Forestry and Land Scotland).

As for the statement that wind turbines “...supply a miniscule amount of the power we need”, figures vary but renewables are certainly providing over 25 per cent of current energy demands, so I am not sure what is Mr Mackay’s definition of “miniscule”. Figures are available on numerous genuine official websites .

Finally, at a time when science overwhelmingly endorses the fact man-made carbon emissions are a significant contributor to the horrendous heat and storm disruptions we are experiencing, how can he possibly call for the cessation of a low-cost, low-carbon energy source like wind as part of the mix of energy generation?

David Morris, Dalkeith, Midlothian

Sweet 15

It seems the main problems with electric cars are the weight of the batteries, the range of travel from each charge and recharging, particularly on long journeys.

Where I live in the country I only need to travel about 15 miles to get all my shopping and services, or to go further abroad by inter-city bus or train. Thus a small car with small batteries would do. I can charge it within my own grounds. I offer this idea to any agency within Scotland that could initiate the making of such a vehicle. Before dismissing the idea, note that the popular Mayor of Paris is working to make that city into a "15-minute" city, where people live within such an area. A car such as I describe would fit in with this scale of activity.

Iain WD Forde, Scotlandwell, Kinross-shire

Wrong priorities

With more than 100 people dying from the effects of drug addiction in one month (your report, 26 July), it seems Scotland still holds the unenviable title of being the drug death capital of Europe. This shameful position existed during Nicola Sturgeon's reign and her continuity candidate Humza Yousaf doesn't seem to have a clue about how to improve it. There have been calls for the taking of drugs for personal use to be legalised but surely in reality this is already happening, with the police turning a blind eye and offenders not being prosecuted.

Resources to support addicts kick the habit seem to be woefully inadequate and underfunded, yet the SNP government can find money to employ civil servants to work on futuristic projects surrounding independence which may or may not ever happen. Is the survival of these unfortunate people on drugs and the stability of their families not a better place to spend public money?

Bob MacDougall, Kippen, Stirlingshire

It’s electrifying

In the run-up to Indyref I criticised the SNP Government for its lack of any interest in rail electrification north of the Central Belt. Ten years on, and nothing has changed. While agreeing with Alastair Dalton (Perspective, 26 July) that it would be expensive, the benefits would not only be the “electrification effect” – the increase in traffic that historically has followed electrification – but an automatic reduction in CO2 emissions.

I fear, however, that running electric trains to and from Aberdeen, Inverness, and Wick wouldn't be much of an SNP vote winner, and that another long wait lies ahead!

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

Malaysia memory

Doug Morrison criticises the Scottish Government for considering issues like citizenship and re-accessing the EU while repeating the British Nationalist mantra that Scotland could not survive outside the Union (Letters, 26 July). May I draw his attention to Malaysia in 1947? Britain took £200 million from Malaysian tin and rubber that year, more than its own manufacturing base at home (£180m). The figure from Scottish oil, gas and renewables, not to mention whisky, is in the billions. In fact it’s England which needs Scotland, not the other way around. The Scottish Crown Office takes its cut, including additional subsidies for the monarchy, out of everything we produce.

As a “New Scot” whose ancestors had to leave Kirkcudbright and environs to seek opportunity elsewhere I am keen to learn how I can obtain a Scottish passport rather than a British one committing me to be a subject rather than a citizen, and live in a country which welcomes refugees and migrants rather than gleefully watching them drown as they desperately seek to escape from war and natural disasters to which we have often contributed directly or indirectly.

As for the EU, we may need to join the European Free Trade Association first. Mr Morrison must be able to look out his window in Kent and see the giant car park the M20 has become due to the Brexit backlog.

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

Welcome for all?

Stan Grodynski (Letters, 25 July) tries to avoid the issue in my earlier letter by denying that many pro-independence Scots are “anti-English”.

Many of them are. I am stating my experience, not just an opinion. That is not running out of arguments. It is confronting an unpleasant truth. I note, however, that he uses the terms “arrogant” and “patronising” and claims that the pro-independence people “welcome all”.

Surely a rather broad-brush claim? Has he asked all arrivals in Scotland if they have had such a welcome?

Mr Grodynski criticises an entire political party (guess which one?) when it offers accommodation which, as a former oil worker, I would have thought was palatial. He says that people say how they "detest" the Tories. Plenty also say that they detest the SNP!

H owever, after their living in mud in a camp in northern France for weeks or months, I would have thought that he might have been honest enough to agree that migrants are treated very well indeed, for uninvited guests. But, no.

Also, stating that Alex Salmond’s attempt to avoid answering Nick Robinson's question was "edited by the BBC” is wholly untrue. The entire exchange is online and featured a conference with Salmond on a podium, entirely unedited. He really should get his facts right.

John Fraser, Glasgow

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Readers Letters: Uists do not need a second spaceport

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