Sir, – Your feature, Sugar confusion contributing to poor diet (January 30) was most welcome, but regrettably served to further add to the confusion.
The use of teaspoons and sugar cubes together with the information that one sugar cube is equivalent to four grammes is confusing.
I would suggest that most people are familiar with teaspoons as a measure, therefore, it is unnecessary to introduce anything else.
The labelling on food packaging is likewise confusing.
Taking a well-known chocolate bar as an example, the traffic lights on the front consist of a series of numbers in grammes and percentages. I have no idea what they mean but I believe they are something to do with daily intake.
As a Type 2 diabetic,I, like most people I imagine, do not monitor my daily intake of anything.
What I am primarily concerned about is the amount of sugar contained in any given product, and I use the amount per 100g given on the back of the packaging.
I find this is the easiest guide, knowing that less than five grammes is good, up to 10 grammes is all right and over that is not a good idea.
I would be happy for the measurement on the packaging to change to teaspoons per 100g provided that health guidelines were also to use the same measure.
For those who wish to calculate their daily intake, the traffic lights could be maintained but set out in a more understandable way.
I would also suggest that it is worth pointing out that there are many pitfalls in trying to guess the amount of sugar in products, the principal culprits being breakfast cereals, low-fat products and healthfood cereal bars.
Clearly, the feature could not give examples of a whole range of foods, but it would have been helpful to have listed some of the morecommon big hitters such as jam, sweets, fizzy drinks and cakes.
Andy Lang. Netherton of Kinloch, Palace Road, Blairgowrie.
Pothole left me out of pocket
Sir, – In response to Mr Barnard’s letter (January 27) I and many others have had serious damage done to my car because of potholes. More than £500 was done to a wheel and two tyres.
On March 1 2014 on the B916 at approximately 7pm I hit a very large pothole which had been there for well over three weeks.
As it was dark at the time, I went back first thing next morning, a Sunday, to take pictures and measurements.
The ditch beside the hole had a few wheel trims and lumps of tar and road metal suggesting it had been there for quite some time.
I contacted the council on Monday morning. They knew nothing about it but by lunchtime that same day it was patched.
I contacted them again and that person said they knew about it on Sunday at 9am.
I sent my pictures and measurements along with the bill from the tyre company to Angus Council. The insurance company got back asking the age of the tyres and if I was VAT registered even though they had the tyre company invoice with all the relevant information including the age of the car which had done fewer than 2,000 miles.
My claim was declined because the insurance company said thecouncil did not know about the pothole.
My solicitor said it would cost more in court fees than the damage to the car.
Mr A Bruce. 29 North Latch Road, Brechin.
Utilities cause road damage
Sir, – There is little doubt that many roads across the country are in an appalling condition but it may be a bit harsh to blame local authorities for all the problems.
Here in Ladybank a large communication company recently dug up a road to lay cables for broadband use.
The consequent remedial work is little less than shocking. Already there are holes appearing in the resurfacing work which will lead to larger potholes eventually.
Looking at the streets here, it is obvious that many of the problems of the potholes originate where the street has been dug up previously.
It is very easy forutilities to do the work and then walk awayfrom any responsibility for maintenancethereafter.
This may have been acceptable when all the utilities were publicly owned but now only drainage is theresponsibility of thepublic sector: not that they are doing a great job either when the floods are visible to all.
I believe that by law when a private utility digs up a road it should be responsible for that part of the road until the road is completely resurfaced.
Peter McLaren. 9 Church Lane, Ladybank.
Tax freeze harms services
Sir, – One the mostfallacious myths and assumptions in modern politics is that cuts can be made to public services without it having any noticeable effect. This myth often trades under the name of “efficiency gains”.
However, there does come a time when reality explodes the myth.
I fear that we are fast approaching that point.
The projected budget deficits in Dundee and Angus will result infundamental changes in public services.
Already in Angus we are facing the loss ofwardens in sheltered housing, changes to the care services and the lack of repairs to potholes being those attracting most attention.
We all know that the Scottish Government is facing cuts to its budget imposed by the ideologically driven Tory austerity at Westminster.
But surely it is an own goal of massive proportions for them tocontinue with the council tax freeze when ourcommunities are faced with devastating real cuts to public services.
History tells us that once services have been cut it will take a long time to reinstate them, if ever.
It matters little to those impacted by cuts whether they are the result of decisionsin Westminster orEdinburgh.
The results are the same: a diminution inthe quality of life ofresidents.
Services are paid for by taxes. If we want decent services we need to pay for them.
I am happy to pay my share of taxes (unlike some notorious individuals and companies) if it benefits the people of my local community byproviding the services that we all need.
Brian Batson. 7 Lour Road, Forfar.
Review bands of council tax
Sir, – We can make council tax a lot fairer by simply adjusting thedifferences between the eight rates of tax.
After all, houses prices have risen enormously since the Tory Government set those bandlevels in 1991.
What we need is a simple change that reflects the need for fairness and our ability to pay.
Introducing a local income tax is verycomplicated and favours the most affluentcouncils while depriving councils where incomes are lower.
Since its introduction, the top rate of counciltax has always beenfixed at three times the lowest rate. That isno longer a fairdifferential.
I propose that we make the band H tax five times that of band A homes.
Band G would become four times band A, band F would become three times band A and then at diminishing increments for the other four bands above the level of our band A homes.
It happens that these changes would make me pay more tax for my home.
But I think that it is a fairer reflection ofboth increasing property values and a Scotland that’s more sympathetic than the early 1990s.
Andrew Dundas. 34 Ross Avenue, Perth.
Democracy undermined
Sir, – It has long been clear that the SNP dominate the Holyrood committee system to the point where meaningful oversight of the government has been severely undermined.
Now those samecontrolling instincts are being imposed on local government acrossScotland, Bully boytactics claim over John Swinney’s council cuts (January 30).
The deep cuts for councils are bad enough, but threatening to take back tens of millions of pounds if any of the demands to freeze council tax, retain the ratio of teachers to pupils and integrate health and social care are not met is surely a step too far.
Effectively MrSwinney is looking to direct local government from the centre,knowing that localpoliticians will have to take the flak if other aspects of local services are decimated as a result.
He seeks to remove local discretion,disabling local democracy at a stroke.
It is no wonder some councils are considering legal action.
Much as Mr Swinney thinks he can wield power to get his way, the courts might well take a different view.
Surely good government at Holyrood should be based on a positive partnership withcouncils?
Mr Swinney’s threats appear the very opposite.
Keith Howell. White Moss, West Linton.