Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir It is laughable to hear a so-called Citibank ‘leading market analyst’ criticise the Scottish Government and the forthcoming referendum, saying it caused uncertainty.
Citibank create next to no jobs in Scotland and are currently in the process of shedding thousands of jobs in the UK (yet another tranche of job losses from the global company).
Nearly all of Citibank’s call centres are located in Asia.
If this were a company with commitment to job creation in the UK rather than profit before people at all costs then perhaps we could set some store by their ‘concern’.
As it is, this smells of political interference.
Jeff Duncan.PO Box 10083,Dundee.
Boldness is needed
Sir, As Scotland inches closer to independence Dr Chris Brown’s comments in Thursday’s edition make sound economic sense. No Incoming Scottish Government could afford to spend the current UK level of 1.7% of its GDP on defence.
It is therefore essential to start planning for no military presence at Leuchars. Open up the airbase for commercial purposes. Use the vacated housing for much needed affordable housing keeping all aspects of village facilities viable.
Given its location, Leuchars Airport could become the economic driver for increased employment for Fife and Tayside. Golf tourism is booming in the Far East and if the home of golf is to remain ahead of the competition vision and boldness is needed.
Joseph A. Peterson.32 Kilrymont Road,St Andrews.
SNP hardly prime culprit
Sir Jonathan Wilson’s risible slur equating the SNP with the Nazis doesn’t merit serious attention, but his grasp of history is flawed on more recent matters.
He objects strongly to the SNP’s bans on alcohol sales before 10am and volume discounting of alcohol.
The 10am restriction was part of the Labour and Lib Dem coalition’s 2005 Licensing Scotland Act. It is a pointless irritation, but the SNP is hardly the prime culprit there.
Volume discounting of alcohol was banned by the last Scottish Parliament, when the SNP had only 36% of the seats. Other parties backed the SNP on this point.
Why call for the SNP to be replaced by those who agreed with them?
As for minimum pricing, the SNP is certainly strongly in favour.
However, since the police and medical profession are on the same side it is bizarre to suggest the proposal is ”lunatic”.
James Christie.2 Dryburgh Crescent,Perth.
Welcome and necessary step
Sir, The appointment of Angela Constance MSP as the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Minister is a welcome and necessary step if we are truly committed to supporting the 100,000 young Scots currently unemployed. There is a substantial challenge that lies ahead for the portfolio that must be tackled with a degree of immediacy.
Young people were hit particularly hard by the recession. Entry-level opportunities dried up and all groups of young people have faced a struggle in getting on to that first rung.
At The Prince’s Trust Scotland we work with 5,000 disadvantaged young people every year, and next year we will increase our commitment to discovering young talent by supporting 5,500 young Scots in their efforts to turn their lives around and find work.
Without support, many of these young people would have found it difficult to overcome the substantial barriers they face and could potentially never have been in a position to reach their full potential.
This cycle must be broken, but without support even the strongest young people would struggle to do this alone.
The Prince’s Trust has developed a range of innovative programmes, which draw on the collaborative support from the public sector and key employers to provide young people with sustainable routes to employment, and we know these programme are working.
More than three out of every four young people we work with at The Prince’s Trust Scotland move on to positive destinations, whether that be employment, education, volunteering or training.
These are Scotland’s success stories and we are delighted young people will continue to be a real focus for the Scottish Government going forward.
Heather Gray.Director,The Prince’s Trust Scotland.
PC outcome was predictable
Sir, I did not need to read the article Examining causes of riots (Courier, December 6), to know an inquiry into the recent riots in London and elsewhere would be blamed on the police, poverty, nothing for youngsters to do anything but the criminality of the people who broke the law.
Just because people are poor compared with others in our affluent society does not mean they have to break the law.
If the rioters want to know about real poverty, they ought to visit India or Africa.
If the police made a mistake, it was in not being tough enough on lawbreakers and giving them the idea they could get away with it.
George K McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.
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.