Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – It is utterly ridiculous for MP Tom Docherty to accuse the First Minister of ‘betrayal and hypocrisy’ over the future of RAF Leuchars when senior members of the Labour Party are busy endorsing the Coalition Government’s cuts.
No one campaigned harder than the SNP at both local and UK level to save the RAF base from closure. North East Fife MSP Rod Campbell continues to press the UK Government for clarity and detail over the transition of RAF Leuchars to an army base in order to minimise local economic disruption now that the decision has been taken.
It is the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats who must take full responsibility for any damage caused to the Fife economy as a result of their defence review and its consquences.
Mr Docherty must know that the SNP made no commitment to turning Leuchars back into an airfield if its defence role was changed and neither did Labour. What is now crystal clear, however, is that there is no ‘union dividend’ when it comes to defence.
Professor Malcolm Chalmers, research director at London-based Royal United Services Institute, an independent military think-tank, has quoted a £2.2bn price tag for a Scottish Defence Force. The number is reasonably in line with other non-nuclear estimates and has now seen use in national media.
Research indicates the £2.2 billion proposed budget would get everything the First Minister referred to, and substantially more. This would be an increase in real terms on UK underspend of £500 million each year, available for direct injection into the Scottish economy.
Alan Reid. Bridgend House, Ceres.
Message lost on writer
Sir, – I was disappointed that the correspondent to the Craigie Column last week chose to use the Dalai Lama’s fragile use of the English language to show his own superior knowledge of our complex language.
I have attended a number of meetings with His Holiness the Fourteenth and can assure the correspondent that while his use of different languages can be shaky at times, his message is always crystal clear: show compassion in all that we do.
This message was clearly lost on the correspondent who, should he wish to continue in his present mission, can concentrate on the many instances of when our language is mangled on a regular basis by the media, educators, government officers and advertisers.
Brought up in the remotest country in the world, with old American newsreels and magazines as one of his main windows into the rest of the world, the Dalai Lama has no difficulty in putting forward his views on complex religious and spiritual concepts.
Well done Dundee University in providing an opportunity for local people to see and hear this iconic world leader.
Ron J. Scrimgeour.39 Gowan Rigg,Forfar.
A chance to redress things
Sir, – Donald Gatt asks what the costs to the Scottish taxpayer of setting up and running the Scottish equivalents of the DVLA and the TV Licencing authority would be.
Currently, the Scottish taxpayer pays for these services but the economic benefits are enjoyed by the communities where they have been established Bristol and Swansea.
Because of where he lives (Moray), Mr Gatt will be well acquainted with the impact of massive job losses on his own local economy, and so I suggest that rather than asking what the costs of setting up the Scottish equivalents of these agencies would be, he would be better considering the benefits which will accrue to the Scottish economy when the Scottish elements of these and other Government agencies currently located outwith Scotland are repatriated.
The most obvious is the additional employment opportunities that these new government organisations will create and the additional incomes generated in the communities where they are located. The distribution of civil service and government agency jobs across the UK has long been unequal,partly as a result of government policy but also because of trade union resistance; independence will give us the opportunity to redress this.
M Duncan.100 Craigie Road,Perth.
Wishful thinking
Sir, – Your Wednesday columnist Jenny Hjul recently claimed that she wants to be “defended by the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force”. Wishful thinking, I fear.
Messrs Cameron and Osborne have already cut the armed forces to the bone and have promised further cuts to come.
Jim Robertson.194 High Street,Montrose.
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.