Friday’s scribes discuss subjects including a national holiday on St Andrew’s Day, Margo Macdonald’s assisted suicide bill, and Donald Trump.
Sir, I am not a royalist but I welcome the additional day’s holiday next year, although I do not expect many workers will be dancing in the streets to celebrate the royal nuptials.
It will be interesting to see the response of those business interests who opposed my bill to have an additional holiday for St Andrew’s Day on the grounds that it would be bad for the economy.
Will the CBI and the bankers be planning street parties for April 29 next year, while telling the workers to get to their work on Tuesday of next week?
Surely our patron saint deserves better recognition and Scotland deserves more opportunity to celebrate our national identity.
A St Andrew’s Day holiday would also create many business opportunities. That would be good for the economy and national morale.
Dennis Canavan.Ardsonas,Sauchieburn,Bannockburn.At mercy of European energySir, Gerry McGuigan writes (November 24) that, “Ireland does not export gas, oil or electricity. Neither do England and Liechtenstein.”
As he himself states, “This is another example of the invincible ignorance of the electorate.”
If, as he implies, Scotland is at present a net exporter of gas, oil and electricity, it will not be for much longer.
Supplies of gas and oil are on the wane and the SNP’s plans for electricity production belong in the realms of Disneyland.
Our electricity supplies will very soon be dependent on the nuclear power plants of France, controlled and costed by the French at a price which an independent Scotland would not be able to afford.
As I said, leave it to the SNP and we Scots shall all be plunged into the outer darkness of a French-German-dominated Europe,
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.Steamroller over-valuedSir, I refer to the article, Sale of Historic Steamroller and the associated editorial comment (November 23).
There seems to be confusion as to whether there are four rollers in this livery or only four of this type left in the UK, however, neither of these statements is correct.
The livery on Angus Council’s roller is unique, having been applied by a previous owner before being re-purchased by Tayside Regional Council.
It is one of around 80 Fowler DN series rollers preserved in the UK with perhaps a further 20 which have been converted from rollers to traction engines in preservation.
Looking at the prices steamrollers have been fetching at auction, I fear that the valuation is greatly over-optimistic.
Sandy Garden.18 Sunnyside,Kirriemuir.Backing for assisted suicideSir, I am very interested in Margo Macdonald’s assisted suicide bill.
I feel strongly that people who do not want to live should have the right to decide to die without having to got to all the hassle of travelling abroad to do so.
I am a healthy, fit, 83-year-old at present, having survived five cancers over the last 33 years with the help of the medical profession.
If I were to become severely incapacitated, I would not want to go on living needing lots of help.
To this end, I am currently renewing my passport as I would need it if I ever decided to visit Dignitas in Switzerland.
However, as my children put it, I am not ready to go skiing just yet.
Mary Smith.Silver End Cottage,Maryburgh,Blairadam.Keep options open on MadrasSir, As the “promote the Langlands B site,” for the new Madras College, St Andrews, rolls into a town near you, the chair of Fife Council’s education committee, Douglas Chapman, and interested parties might do well to reconsider the other options.
The preferred site can only happen if the access road is built first, which, we are informed, can only happen if the developers cover the cost.
The joint sports facility with St Andrews University is no longer in the plans.
Madras and the university have coexisted in the town for decades but the future now holds “cross development”.
Do they mean sharing to reduce costs?
The Langlands A site, opposite Station Park, does not need a link road.
It would eliminate bus congestion in the town and has the school playing fields on its doorstep.
More importantly, it would have a smaller carbon footprint.
The option to redevelop the Kilrymont site will still be there if needed.
Joseph A. Peterson.32 Kilrymont Road,St Andrews.More fitting Trump legacySir, I watched a television programme about Donald Trump.
This billionaire wants to honour his mother, an attitude seldom trumpeted in this country.
I was not aware that Mrs Trump was a golfer but she was definitely a “Scat” from “Scatland” and because she gave birth to a very canny (strictly in the penny-wise meaning) half-Scot, she must take the credit.
Mind you, I think with Trump’s billions I could have honoured my mother in a less mercenary manner.
What about, Mr Trump, instead of a money-making golf course and hotel, you build and fund a school or hospital for the people of Lewis.
This would preclude the assumed need to deprive folk of their homes, an action which would forever besmirch your mother’s name.
M. R. Ferrier.3 Binsted Avenue,Dundee.
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