Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – Regarding recent reports of ‘memos from junior captains’ unbelievably circulated round units in Afghanistan, may I make the following comment: a wounded serviceman is still perfectly suited to remain in the armed services.
There are famous precedents: Horatio Nelson (minus an arm and an eye), Sam Browne (minus an arm inventor of the now standard officers’ belt) and Douglas Bader (no legs flew Spitfires and Hurricanes).
One note of caution they were all officers.
The development of prosthetics gives wounded personnel renewed mobility and ability. We have all seen the pictures of a runner with artificial legs racing round a running track.
The battlefield experience of such wounded people is priceless. In my opinion, they are capable (provided they themselves agree) of frontline defensive duties, some crewing duties on naval ships, and slow speed flying.
They could be invaluable training instructors, administrators, planners or information collators in an intelligence capacity, and so on and so on. They must not be wasted.
There is one tragedy which cannot be easily overcome that of the sufferers from serious head wounds, where presence of mind and/or physical coordination has been lost.
The treatment of these casualties must be given full attention facilities, funding, trained nurses and doctors and full compensatory action.
I long suspected the MoOD was overstaffed with too many ‘good idea’ types. Now I’m sure!
A. T. Geddie. 68 Carleton Ave, Glenrothes.
Reclaimed land the solution?
Sir, – As I write, I am looking at a photograph of an 18-mile dyke built between North Holland and Friesland which in the years before the Second World War enabled hundreds of square miles of land to be reclaimed and turned into rich farmland.
The photograph, vividly remembered from my chlldhood, is contained in Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopaedia, and shows the last gap in the dyke being closed.
In the 1930s, when the encyclopaedia was published, the city of Dundee was also involved in reclaiming land at the Coup.
An old Dutch proverb says that God made the sea, but Man makes the shore. I am sure the Dutch would not want the Zuyder Zee and other reclaimed land to return to its former state.
The many square miles of farmland rescued from the sea now produce the food which the Dutch export to earn their living.
Why, then, have our modern environmentalists turned against landfill so violently as to make it a crime punishable by heavy fines to send too much waste to landfill? And why do our governments go along with it?
We bemoan the loss of land to the sea because, they say, the sea level is rising and will continue to rise. Why do we not do as our forebears and the Dutch did and build dykes to hold back the sea while dumping our waste behind it to reclaim land and to protect the villages and farms on our threatened coasts?
This would solve two problems at once erosion and waste disposal.
Would somebody please tell me why landfill was once good and is now so very, very naughty? Arthur Mee and his writers obviously thought it was an excellent idea.
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.
£400 million gift for cheeky Branson
Sir, – I was sad to read that the government is letting its friend, Richard Branson, and his Virgin Money buy Northern Rock for a potential maximum of £1 billion, thus giving Branson a gift of £400 million pumped into NR with taxpayers’ money.
Tory governments are good at selling the national assets at knock-down prices. But what really irks me is that Branson is moving some of his head office operations to Switzerland where he will not have to pay as much tax to the UK exchequer.
So he doesn’t mind gifts from the UK taxpayer but he’s damned if he is going to make his rightful contribution. To me, that makes him just about the cheekiest man in Britain.
I am a Virgin customer, but I will be looking closely at that over the weekend.
I hope a few million others do the same.
K. J. MacDougall.3 Logie Avenue, Dundee.
A poor show from Jenny
Sir, – I note your political piece quoting North East MSP Jenny Marra and her disquiet with the regime in Qatar.
It is a real pity that after five months in parliament Jenny has reverted to the Labour stereotype of hypocritically attacking everything that the SNP does, without a thought for the benefits to our country.
For example, when did this antipathy to all things Qatari begin?
Recently Jenny revealed herself as a keen follower of football yet I am unaware of any protests from her or the Labour Party when Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup.
Similarly, when the global financial crash began to bite, I do not recall Jenny lambasting Gordon Brown who stated on his visit to Qatar in 2008 that he was confident “he had successfully enlisted the help of Gulf states for international plans for an emergency bail-out fund.”
On this same visit the then climate change minister, Ed Miliband, signed a deal between Qatar and the UK to invest in the development of green technologies.
It is a poor show Ms Marra and the people of the North East deserve better.
Henry Malcolm.331 Clepington Road,Dundee.
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.