Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, Last year, most Scottish schoolchildren got a St Andrew’s Day holiday because of the snow. This year, they will probably get a St Andrew’s Day holiday because of industrial action.
The children of Scotland should not have to rely on the snow or industrial action to get a holiday on Scotland’s national day.
All Scottish local authorities must take action now to introduce a St Andrew’s Day annual holiday.
Last year, they were quick enough to declare an extra holiday for a royal wedding and next year they will probably do likewise for a royal jubilee.
Surely St Andrew, as Patron of Scotland, deserves more recognition?
Dennis Canavan.Ardsonas,Sauchieburn,Bannockburn.
Very generous with our money
Sir, Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, is a disaster and every time he opens his mouth the taxpayer suffers.
His latest generosity with our money is giving £1 billion of UK aid to Africa to fight climate change.
I thought we were in economic meltdown?
He and Dave want to strut the world stage in Durban South Africa at the UN summit on climate change.
This £1 billion could be seen as a cynical attempt to get the African nations to sign up to whatever CO2 reduction deals Chris and Dave propose to show that they are world leaders.
I foresee lots of orders from African states for new palaces, Mercedes cars and Lear jets.
Clark Cross.138 Springfield Road,Linlithgow.
Don’t appreciate the distinction?
Sir, In the current pensions debate we have heard little from government ministers about private sector employers who do not provide pension schemes for their staff and appear quite happy to let taxpayers pick up the tab.
A worker retiring on only the state pension and with modest savings will automatically be eligible for a number of state benefits such as the Pension Credit (£46 pw), Housing Benefit (£100+ pw) and Council Tax Benefit (£20 pw).
In total this could be in excess of £10k per year and no one should begrudge them this level of support.
By contrast, all local government employees pay 6% of their salaries into funded pension schemes, which incidentally may be in difficulty because of the greed of the bankers.
If these staff have a pension of say £8k per year, which they have paid for, they are no better off because they pay their own rent and council tax.
It is hardly surprising then that public sector workers are aggrieved at the changes being proposed and at being unfairly targeted while private sector employers effectively make bigger profits at the taxpayers’ expense.
Perhaps ministers from wealthy backgrounds don’t appreciate the distinction.
Phil D’Arcy.14 Glen Avenue,Dyce.
Taking us back to ‘bad old’ days
Sir, On Wednesday hundreds of thousands of public sector workers will take us back to the 1970s with a day of kamikaze action hitting schools, nurseries, hospitals and airports.
Knock-on effects will be felt across the private sector with workers whose jobs, unlike those of the strikers, are far from secure, forced to stay at home to look after children.
If the strikers are counting on public sympathy, they can forget it for in this time of severe economic strain for the nation their behaviour is both selfish and irresponsible.
The unions promise more such days unless the government forces pensionless private sector workers to foot the bill for the public sector’s gold-plated variety.
They are helping to ensure the private sector pain will last for even longer but it does not appear to occur to them that this will eventually blow back on their own members.
(Dr) John Cameron.10 Howard Place,St Andrews.
Reforms not to cut costs
Sir, It has to be pointed out that public sector pensions are not unaffordable and are not a burden on the taxpayer as some believe. Quite the opposite in fact.
The NHS superannuation scheme, for example, sees NHS workers paying £8bn directly to the UK Treasury every year. Of that money, only £6bn is paid out in pensions leaving the government with £2bn to do with as it will. The bulk, if not all, public sector pension schemes are in a similar position.
The Con-Dem Government are being dishonest when they say the reforms they want to introduce are essential in order to cut costs.
They are really attempting to increase their ‘profit’ by making public sector workers give them more of their salaries while cutting the rewards they can expect on retirement.
It is a cynical move on their part and the unions are right to challenge them on it.
If the government want revenue to tackle the deficit, they should turn their attention to the large private corporations that are sitting on over £100bn of tax due to the Treasury by the use of complex evasion schemes.
They would then be able to leave public sector pensions alone, tackle the deficit and bolster the state pension for all.
Stuart Allan.8 Nelson Street,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.