Sir, Jim Murphy, Labour Shadow Defence Secretary, states that the SNP’s defence policy is based “more on faith than fact”.
Does he represent the same Labour Party who, together with their new-found Conservative friends, have decimated the army, built two aircraft carriers for billions of pounds, one of which on completion will be immediately mothballed while the other will sail with the navy but does not have planes suitable to fly from it?
Does Mr Murphy accept that his party modernised the Ark Royal for £498 million which thereafter never turned a screw and was sold to Singapore for less than one-hundredth of the cost of the refurbishment?
Does Mr Murphy further accept that when Great Britain took part in the creation of a “no fly” zone in Libya it cost seven times as much as it would have been had the Ark Royal and the Harriers that flew from it not been scrapped?
It appears unlikely that any weight should be placed on either Mr Murphy’s opinions, or those of his Conservative friends, with a record like that; facts he decided to omit.
L Liney. 8 Knockard Crescent, Pitlochry.
‘Speaking too loud’ was just an excuse
Sir, It was almost with disbelief that I read the article in The Courier, September 20, about a pastor preaching outdoors in Perth who was accused of speaking too loudly.
What about the rowdy mobs turning out of the pubs when some people are in bed?
What of the noisy groups of football supporters, who are not known for their tact, in many city and town centres, not just Perth?
I don’t think the noise level was the real cause of complaints but the material being expounded. If it had been a Better Together or Separate Scotland campaign speech nothing more would have come of it.
I am convinced that it wasn’t the ears of those who complained but their consciences. The gospel hits hard at times and that is not wanted by those in their cosy web of disbelief.
The crux of the matter, though, is the principle of free speech, which two world wars were fought to secure.
Jesus foretold that his followers would be persecuted here is the fulfilment of that prophecy. All power to you, Mr Williamson!
L Morrison. 8 Nursery Site, Nursery Lane, Brechin.
Check these projections
Sir, The Met Office’s HadCM3 climate model is used to generate the UK’s official climate projections on which are based investment decisions across the public sector.
It has recently been found that these projections have a large, in-built bias of long-term warming which is why they have failed to match observational evidence.
Government projects based on these projections were launched in June 2009 with huge publicity in housing, transport and water management with devastating results.
For example the French temperature standards used for our road surfaces meant that they failed in the cold winters of 2010/11 and 2011/12 which is why they are so pot-holed.
Before it throws more money at the likes of windfarms the Scottish Government should have these dodgy projections checked by an independent panel of statisticians.
Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
Don’t let heart rule your head
Sir, Further to Jim Crumley’s article in which he advocates full independence; he suggests we should “trust our instincts”, “take a leap of faith” and push for “indy-max”.
I am afraid that my trust in Scottish politicians based on what I have heard in the (well thought out and priced) Scottish Parliament does not endear me to ignore my head in this major decision.
My head sees too many problems to include in this letter but only needs to consider the state of Scotland if we had been independent over the last five years.
During this time we would have been incapable of supporting our two major financial institutions through their crises which ultimately would have had disastrous consequences for the whole country.
Please, people, use your head and not your heart in this important decision.
Jim Wallace. Carnoustie.
Great to see a good turnout
Sir, I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the winners in the recent competition for Jackie the Musical.
My friend and I had a very enjoyable Monday evening at the lovely Gardyne Theatre. It was great to see such a good turnout.
The cast, songs and music were all excellent. Thanks for a great show.
Lesley McNeill. Mill of Marcus, Forfar.