Sir, Ewan Pate’s pick from the Oxford Farming Conference Signs of tide turning in favour of GM (Courier, Tuesday) is more an uncritical report of an entertainment, rather than a delivery of evidence.
Mark Lynas performing his “Once I was an unbeliever. Yea, a sinner but now I’ve seen the light!” act is designed to beguile the public. Lynas is one of a handful of sometime environmentalists who discovered their ambitions can be much better rewarded by industries they claim to have opposed. This neo-liberal all-expenses-plus evangelist has not so much “discovered science”, rather he has learned to recite industry standard falsehoods, by ignoring the tenets of science.
His summary dismissal of opposition to GM technology as “anti-science” is wrong, as is his claim that the debate is over and that GM technology is “safe”. As with so many high-profit technologies that have gone before, “GM safety” is scarcely skin deep.
Its approval rules were craftily devised to evade proper scrutiny. Even now with ongoing scientific demonstrations of harm to environment and animal health, our so-called regulatory agencies keep bending to accommodate GM chums.
Of course, Lynas didn’t forget the obligatory defaming of organic agriculture. The e-coli outbreak in Germany in 2011 originated at a hydroponic sprouting farm in Uelzen, near Hamburg. In common with other lethal outbreaks in Japan and USA, it was not the problem of a specific production system. It is the bacteria carrying capacity of sprout seeds that is the problem, not the methods used to farm them; any farming method can and has been affected.
An industry which bolsters its falsehoods by buying-in celebrities and novelty acts can only be regarded with utmost suspicion.
Arthur Jarrett. 45 Naughton Road, Wormit.
Not catering for customer
Sir, While it is very sad for employees of Jessops and HMV to lose their jobs at this time of year, the loss of these retail outlets really needs to be put into perspective. If internet traders can supply goods cheaper and more conveniently than town centre shops (with all their parking problems deliberately engineered by local councils), then these dinosaur enterprises will inevitably become extinct.
Perhaps if HMV had not alienated customers like myself by stopping stocking their traditional 78s, I might have been persuaded to continue shopping there. As it is my needs are now more than adequately catered for online!
John Eoin Douglas. 7 Spey Terrace, Edinburgh.
Residents are concerned
Sir, I have been disgusted by the attitude shown by Perth and Kinross Council, Scottish Water and Sepa towards householders in Scone regarding the recent flooding issues. To go on record and state it was nothing to do with these organisations before even investigating the causes of the damage was disgraceful.
Councillor Lewis Simpson is correct in stating that the maintenance and repair of a piece of public infrastructure is not the responsibility of Scone residents. These problems are not new to Scone and if efforts had been made to identify and tackle the issues sooner then perhaps the distress and inconvenience suffered by businesses and residents could have been avoided.
People need to know where the drains run. Are they near or underneath their properties? How much water is running through them? Where does all the water come from and why are gardens in the North of Scone being flooded?
Clearly the present infrastructure cannot cope yet there are proposals for hundreds of new houses, a new road link to another bridge over the River Tay and a possible supermarket all earmarked for the North of Scone.
Local residents might be forgiven for being concerned for the future. I hope they will attend a public information event in February and raise their concerns.
Bill Paterson. 4 David Douglas Avenue, Scone.
Showing their true colours
Sir, The legacy this Government will leave is their barbaric treatment of and total disdain for genuine jobseekers. Constant outsourcing of the DWP’s basic work and cutting schemes to help has left many older jobseekers at a great disadvantage.
Not only must they compete with younger people and the vast number of European immigrants, which have been left unchecked, they are pressurised by unhelpful, patronising staff at offices around the country to find work that simply is not there.
The Government’s latest idea is the Universal Jobmatch forcing people to register on this system before they can even apply for jobs, a complicated procedure for many and a waste of money.
This Government is really showing its true colours to the poor of this country.
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.