Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – It is really good to see the tribunal recording the facts of the Linda Ross case just as every reader of the Courier must have known years ago.
The bill for this ridiculous saga must be huge and should be passed on to those who used their positions in a way unacceptable to any fair-minded person.
The main culprits, though, are the elected representatives who employ such people and then allow them free rein. Where was the education committee?
This applies to other council departments, in particular the housing department who have been criticised in the past but, in my opinion, still act as if they own the city.
The planning department have now been overruled by Edinburgh many times. The costly disasters of planning in the past Tayside House, badly-built multi blocks, demolition of the Royal Arch go without anyone being made responsible.
How long will it be before the present expensive council building is deemed unfit and they move down to new buildings next door to the V&A?
Who gave them a mandate to spend half a billion pounds buying up and demolishing private and public property and creating road chaos for years? Were we asked?
The social work department has undergone a complete overhaul. Does anyone really believe it will make any difference?
Local government officers should be held to the same standards as any other employee. If they don’t carry out duties properly, they should face the consequences. Councillors are elected to oversee that.
The organisation set up to look into these failings, the Local Government Ombudsman, is a waste of time. The first ploy is to try to prove you don’t have a legally valid complaint and then the chance of them recognising genuine malpractice is negligible.
We need better people as councillors, as it was before they were paid.
R. J. Soutar.37 Camperdown Street, Broughty Ferry.
Forced to die in foreign lands
Sir, – No criminal cases have proceeded from the 44 instances of assisted suicide investigated since the Crown Prosecution Service issued new guidelines 18 months ago.
This has sparked a deluge of criticism from the usual suspects who accused the director Keir Starmer of creating a blanket policy effectively banning such prosecutions.
The CPS wants reassurance the action is not motivated “by the prospect of gaining from the death”.
I feel much of this intrusive investigative work could be reduced if several Dignitas-type clinics were created in this country for those in extremis who wish to depart in peace.
Having such access would remove the necessity of a journey to a foreign land and dying among strangers which is the consequence of the present system.
Rev Dr John Cameron.10 Howard Place,St Andrews.
Apprenticeships’ massive benefits
Sir, – I’d like to urge construction firms in Dundee to consider the benefits of taking on an apprentice.
Young people are the lifeblood of an industry that is the engine of Scotland’s growth.
As the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, we are proud to reveal we have helped find new employment for 1067 apprentices made redundant in the recession.
We support employers with advice and grants to ensure the industry has the talent it needs, now and in the future.
At a time when high youth unemployment is a key issue, apprenticeships offer the chance to learn a trade that becomes a career.
For businesses of all sizes, apprenticeships lead to the creation of a loyal workforce with the right skills. It’s a win-win.
Graeme Ogilvy.Director, ConstructionSkills Scotland, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.
Scots’ modest share of UK debt
Sir, – Much attention has been paid by the Unionist parties to the reasons for Scotland not to be an independent nation, and hardly a day goes by without some doom-laden forecast of the fate that would befall us were this to be the case.
However, what is not being promoted is the positive case for Scotland remaining in the Union.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander recently attacked the cause of independence, declaring that an independent Scotland would be in debt to the tune of £65bn and that an independent Scotland would not have survived the 2008 financial crash the same tired old scaremongering.
The UK is running a deficit of £150bn and even if we assume £65bn to be accurate, this is a modest slice of the UK national debt, which is currently running at 75% of GDP, or £870bn, according to the Bank of England.
There is also still the small matter of around £1 trillion in oil revenues, and Scotland has immense reserves of renewable energy in wind and tides.
And the claim that Scotland would have been left to cope with the banking crisis on its own has been discredited.
With most of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s assets located in England, any rescue would have had to be UK-wide, whether Scotland was independent or not.
Such scaremongering led not only to an SNP landslide at the last Scottish Parliamentary elections, but to the latest polls showing a majority in favour of Scottish independence.
The case for independence is clear, but when it comes to the case for the Union, all that is to be heard is the deafening sound of silence.
Alex Orr.Leamington Terrace,Edinburgh.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.