Scotsman Letters: Don’t give up hope in goodness of mankind

With the despicable assault on Ukraine continuing I remember, as a young man with tears in my eyes, being restrained from travelling to Hungary in 1956, as the Russian tanks blasted their way into Budapest.

Residents of Budapest in 1956 destroy a huge statue of Stalin in the Hungarian capital during a demonstration against the communist domination (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Over a decade later in 1968 the same happened in Prague. However, in the late 1980s the Russian Soviet Empire began to disintegrate and by the 1990s democratic freedoms returned.

Therefore, as the madness of one man explodes over Ukraine, we must never give up hope in the ultimate goodness of mankind. As we salute the courage of Ukraine let us support its people, in every way possible, remembering there is more good in the world than evil and that hate is always the loser.

Grant Frazer, Newtonmore, Highland

Net zero danger

Yesterday’s page 2 viewpoint by Ilona Amos is headlined: “Let’s not forget about saving the planet amid global doom”. This is the kind of virtue signalling and subsequent net zero aspirations which have heavily contributed to our problems in dealing with the Ukrainian disaster.The sanctimonious green zealots have succeeded in obliterating all of our homegrown production of energy by stopping North Sea oil extraction, coal mining, power stations, fracking and shale oil resources. The most glaring nonsense is refusing to contemplate nuclear power stations, all in favour of covering the countryside with useless, highly expensive wind farms.Thus we are left with almost total dependency on fuel from abroad, particularly Russia, leaving us in the position of effectively financing the war upon Ukraine.By throwing in her lot with the Greens, Nicola Sturgeon is hugely responsible for the disaster outlined above.

David Hollingdale, Edinburgh

Truss worthy?

I believe there will be less chance of a peace settlement with Vladimir Putin if our clearly undiplomatic Foreign Secretary is allowed to keep pronouncing statements like “Putin must lose”. Liz Truss seems to be clueless with regard to negotiation.

To such a misogynistic dictator as him this is the proverbial red rag to the bull. Some form of compromise will have to be reached. All-out defeat is unlikely to be countenanced.

Derek Sharp, Edinburgh

Naive on Nato

If it was possible for this SNP administration to reach new heights of irony, then it did so this week with the comments from their Shadow Defence spokesman Stewart McDonald. Regardless of the fact that defence is not a devolved power, he boldly and righteously states that previous armed forces cuts by the UK government were a “mistake” and “short sighted”.

This from a member of the SNP that wants to get rid of Trident from Faslane and wants independence which could, and more than likely would, result in Scotland being outside Nato. Further, quite where Mr. McDonald would grow the money tree to provide the necessary resources to fund Scotland’s defences and armed forces is anyone’s guess.

If we ever needed convincing that the UK as a whole and as part of Nato can demonstrate strong defences it is now, in the face of the most dangerous military action in Europe since the Second World War. He would do well to remember, that at this time, he can make such comments under the umbrella of UK security.

Richard Allison, Edinburgh

Soft on crime

An organised Liverpool drugs gang arrested in Perth who attempted to flood the area with more than £65,000 of heroin appeared in court and were sentenced this week. One received two years, the second 23 months and the third 18 months imprisonment.These soft sentences are embarrassing and will do nothing to deter such pedlars of misery, whom I have no doubt will continue in their trade when released early after good behaviour. Hopefully the prosecution will appeal the sentences on the grounds of undue leniency.

Michael J Fraser, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire

Keep that pen

I received a letter today from the National Records of Scotland regarding Scotland's Census 2022. It states that you can complete the questionnaire, preferably online, as soon as you receive the letter.

I tried numerous times to access this website, to no avail. I then phoned the helpline and was asked if I would like them to send a paper questionnaire as they had problems on their website.

I was trying to keep up with modern technology but you sometimes cannot beat the old fashioned and reliable “pigeon post” and “pen and paper”!

Mrs J Montgomery, Gullane, East Lothian

Police state?

Does anyone else see the irony in the UK’s strenuous protests over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its ramming through Parliament of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that effectively criminalises the right to protest? The day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report that condemns the world’s nations for failing to act to stop cataclysmic climate change, which is already killing millions and is rapidly overwhelming the ability of both nature and humanity to adapt, the UK government will make it illegal to protest the wanton destruction of our life support systems on planet earth.

The authoritarian measures include criminalising the obstruction of major transport works with imprisonment of up to 51 weeks, increasing the power to stop and search without suspicion and banning people from protests and from associating with particular people. This comes on the heels of the government introducing voter ID laws designed to disenfranchise voters who aren’t natural Tory supporters, its weakening of the Electoral Commission giving government ministers the power to shut down awkward investigations and ban any organisation from campaigning or donating, and its restricting the use of judicial review that allows citizens to hold government to account.

It seems the UK Government may get away with strangling what’s left of our weakened democracy. It’s a perilous time for all, but particularly for Scotland where the UK is actively undermining the devolved administration and mounting an aggressive propaganda campaign against Scottish self-determination. The window for Scotland to escape this looming police state is narrowing.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh

We’re the mugs

The SNP Government continues to stagger along like a drunken man on a Saturday night, every time it falls to the ground taxpayer money spills from the pockets into the gutter.

Edinburgh's Court of Session found that the SNP Government went beyond its devolved powers by legislating that transgender women should count as women in a law designed to increase female representation on public boards. A victory for Fair Play for Women.

The SNP have increased their Public relations officers (spin doctors) by over 50 per cent since 2018, 115 to 176. This increased number plus other special advisers are now costing the taxpayer £9 million a year. £700,000 of taxpayers’ money has been allocated to make a case for independence, £250,000 has been allocated to legally protect Scottish Ministers in the upcoming Covid-19 Inquiry.

The number of times the SNP have been found to be acting unlawfully in the last two years (at least 10 times) by the Court of Session is quite staggering, and every time they defend themselves the QC barrister is paid for by us mugs, the taxpayer.

John Smith, Falkirk

All the angles

While debate continues in Scotland over the possible introduction of VAR to our premier football league, the Rangers match against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night exposed a significant limitation.

It was obvious that the referee was struggling to come to a decision on confirming the goal he had judged to have been scored on the camera angles\views provided, presumably by the TV editor. Yet, only after the decision was made to deny the goal did viewers see the camera angle that clearly dispelled any doubt, critically, an angle/view that was not provided to the referee.

In other words TV editors today are not only controlling news output and political slant in information presented, but are increasingly influencing results of sports events.

Shortly after New South Wales Rugby League introduced video refereeing more than 25 years ago it became clear to most objective viewers that selective presentation of “video evidence” was favouring teams based in Sydney. When the SFA does introduce VAR here, it should be stipulated that the number of camera angles available to the editor be clearly conveyed before the game, to viewers and especially to the referee. Furthermore, instead of showing the same inconclusive camera angle/view many times over, it should be mandatory to consider another angle after three unconvincing views.

The introduction of VAR in Scotland must include wise safeguards to minimise potential manipulation.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Try yet again

I was puzzled by the recent debate in The Scotsman about the origin of the word “try” in rugby.Perhaps I am betraying my age by pointing out that the present-day try differs from that of my youth, when a try was 3 points. This increased to 4 in 1971 and 5 in 1992, I believe.The word “try” reflects the number 3, just as “triathlon” and “triennial” do.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts. 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. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription. Click on this link for more information.