Scotsman Letters: Shortage of processing staff adds to asylum seeker crisis

The ineffectual processing of asylum seeker applications in Britain has been highlighted as a growing concern

Mr Wilson rightly summarises the present-day problem as “not the numbers per se but the ineffectual processing of applications”.

He is obviously correct to point the finger at the government for this problem and to suggest the problem would be corrected if government employed sufficient numbers to process the applications.

In the good old days of New Labour the problem was solved by giving all those waiting for visa clearances a free pass. A solution that might appeal to Sir Keir Starmer should he and his party gain sufficient support at the next general election.

Be that as it may, it is a easy dig at Conservatives to suggest employing more civil servants, but given the number of civil servants already employed by government a better solution might be to prioritise the processing procedure and redeploy 1,000 existing personnel to tackle the problem!

This is not the government’s job to organise the day to day but the faceless mandarins who oversee the running of various departments.

Probably something that would be beyond their capabilities, but they should be tasked to sort out or move out.

A Lewis, Coylton, South Ayrshire

EV concerns

Boris Johnson’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 will exclude millions from affording a car and increase transport costs for everything that is delivered by vans. Next year every carmaker will require 22 per cent of their sales in the UK to be electric, and will be punished with a fine of £15,000 per car over that arbitrary limit.

That is bad enough, but requiring the emergency service to rely on battery power alone will cost lives.

Gloucester’s police and crime commissioner has said: “I’ve heard lots of problems with officers driving around in EVs running out of puff and having to get another vehicle”. A senior lecturer in policing at Sunderland University has said: “It may be that you need two EVs to keep rolling over 24 hours whereas you previously used one petrol or diesel”.

Last month Essex police said the EV roll-out poses “a strategic risk” and reported that “there is no EV alternative that meets high-performance roles such as roads policing or armed response”.

Making ambulances rely on batteries is alarming, especially if there were a widespread emergency. We should also remember that diesel generators are vital in providing back-up power for hospitals for long periods of time, and net zero will require these to be eliminated too. It would appear that the all-powerful Climate Change Committee is the political wing of Extinction Rebellion.

The EU is not banning diesel and petrol cars until 2035, and is also allowing internal combustion engines to continue if they can run on environmentally-friendly fuels. The UK should follow suit.

William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder

Heat pumps fad

At last there is a backlash as people see common sense. Smart meters have failed as people see their real purpose, and the green fad of heat pumps will fail likewise as they either don’t work, or can never pay for themselves in an average lifetime.

We are being dictated to by a London climate cult who have no understanding of anything or anyone outwith the capital. They have even lost the support of their own Home Counties.

This nonsense is designed to collapse our social and economic system by means of a climate fraud in order to rebuild it in the perverted vision of those who see us as mere drones for their own herding and harvesting.

We must resist and say, ‘no more’ to save a British culture that has enlightened the world for centuries.

Let us be free of these people and their sinister strategies.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross

Assisted suicide

I’m concerned that media coverage of assisted suicide, including your most recent article (“At least 25 Scots have gone to Switzerland for assisted death – charity”, August 11), fails to approach the issue with due balance and sensitivity. Many outlets have unquestioningly accepted the language of ‘assisted dying’, which has no standing in law and is misleading.

It is common to see articles putting forward perspectives from those who want to legalise doctor assisted suicide without any counter comment from the many groups who oppose a change, and who stand to be significantly affected. The disabled people’s community is one such group.

It is also regrettable to see a false narrative claiming ‘religious groups’ are the most, or perhaps the only, groups opposed to assisted suicide. Opposition is found among people of every religious and philosophical perspective including atheists, humanists, agnostics, and people of faith.

Assisted suicide involves people taking their own lives and this issue seriously impacts some readers. Some outlets signpost to suicide prevention organisations and other services when covering this sensitive issue. I’d like to see every outlet doing this.

Dr Miro Griffiths, Expert adviser on disability and spokesman for Better Way

Ferry apt . . .

As a lover of the French language and a concerned commentator on the political scene in Scotland, something came to my attention which I feel I must report to readers of The Scotsman.

There is a word in that wonderful language which is “ferraille”. One could be mistaken for thinking that it was a French word meaning "ferry", but it isn't.In fact, it means "scrap metal". Isn't that a coincidence?

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

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