Sir, -The prospect of fierce predators being let loose in north-east Scotland is horrifying.
Clearly, lynx and man did not co-exist peacefully when they last shared a landscape 1,000 years ago.
One can imagine that lynx did what their nature dictates and killed livestock.
In turn, man took it out on the poor lynx.
The same thing will happen again as livestock owners find ways ofprotecting their stock.
The loser here will be the lynx, taken from its peaceful habitat in Europe and dumped in an alien landscape in Scotland.
That might be a coup for wildlife charities, a fundraising tool, but not much fun for the poor animal.
It is the outdoor equivalent of the outdated practice of keepingperforming animals in circuses.
I agree with yourcorrespondent MrAnderson (May 4) when he drew similarities between the lynx project and the reintroduction of sea eagles to Scotland a few years ago.
These birds are beautiful but they are becoming increasingly unpopular among farmers and crofters.
I detect a growing apprehension among the human population too.
We have already seena brutal attack on a clergyman in Abernethy by one of the younger sea eagles.
Those living close to the sea eagles’ nesting sites in eastern parts of Scotland must be more than a little fearful for their own safety and that of their children andanimals.
It does seem unfair to bring these birds in from abroad to an environment they are not used to.
Bob Stark. Mill Street, Tillicoultry.
Humanity isbetter with God
Sir, – Howard Evans (May 1) stated that he had never heard the question of why God created LGBT people answered.
When I answered it his response was that he did not really mean thequestion because he considers all belief in God to be a delusion anyway.
His evidence for this is apparently the two world wars in which millions of people died.
I can understand this being evidence against the idea that human beings are inherently good but why is itevidence against God?
An all-powerful God could easily have created human beings with free will whom he allowed to reap the consequences of their own actions.
He cites Stephen Fry’s rather juvenile and irrational attack on God as support. If Mr Evans is really interested in finding out answers to such accusations he could go to the Solas website (www.solas-cpc.org) where we have produced our own response toStephen Fry.
As for the idea that because there are 4,200 religious views in the world, none of them can be right, I’m afraid that does not make sense either.
It seems as though Mr Evans is saying that only his religious view is the correct one. Perhaps the delusion is not in those of us who believe that an almighty God could and has revealed himself through his son, Jesus Christ, but rather with those who think that their view that human beings are inherently progressive is the only view permitted.
As I look round the world today I have a suspicion that the evidence is clearly against those who think that humanity is better without God.
David A Robertson. Solas Centre for Public Christianity, Swan House, Dundee.
Folly of climate control attempts
Sir, – The Calbuco volcano in Chile erupted twice last week after lying dormant for 43 years.
The Chilean national geology and mining service has warned that people should prepare for a third and “even more aggressive eruption”.
This is only the latest in a series of eruptions around the world and there are 500 activevolcanoes.
Then there is thedevastating earthquake in Nepal.
In 2005, 80,000 people were killed by an earthquake in Kashmir.
These disasters and rebuilding the infrastructure create emissions.
Mankind cannotcontrol the CO2 given off by nature yet Britain, especially Scotland, believes it can control the climate with thousands of useless wind turbines.
Clark Cross. 138 Springfield Road, Linlithgow.
SNP hidingfrom the facts
Sir, – I see that, inquerying the IFS figures that I quoted in my letter, Andrew Masson April 30) has adopted the SNP Government’s economic philosophy of “anything that’s inconvenient simply won’t happen”.
Does Mr Masson buy house insurance,I wonder?
Dave Dempsey. 7 Carlingnose Park, North Queensferry.
Manipulationof democracy
Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon has the audacity to lecture Westminster on democracy.
Having failed to achieve independence via the ballot box, Ms Sturgeon intends to blackmail a needy Labour government into granting independence by the back door.
Westminster’s first-past-the-post system means that the SNP doesn’t need in excessof 50% of the vote in Scotland to accrue more independence powers, merely a sizeable chunk of Westminster seats.
And the more seats the SNP secures, the more compliant Ed Miliband will be to Alex Salmond’s as yet undisclosed separatist demands. That’s true SNP democracy for you.
Martin Redfern. 4 Royal Circus, Edinburgh.
Green warriors on the march
Sir, – The presentgeneration of “informed, surprisingly sophisticated” nine-year-olds (as reported last week) is likely to make this the last general election in which the Conservatives and Labour will receive more than 30% of the vote.
Children of this age instinctively “wish to help vulnerable people to attain a better standard of living, protect them from harm and safeguard the planet for future generations” and are naturally drawn to the philosophy of the Green Party.
Green Party members are the teachers and pathfinders for this next electoral generation who, in 10 years, will be increasingly casting their vote for the Greens and its leader who “cares about the world and wants to make it a better place”.
Members know their present work is in preparation for the day when children entering into adulthood, having kept faith in the Green vision, become the majority.
Geoff Naylor. 21 Birch Close, Colden Common, Winchester.
Foundations for brighter future
Sir, – We have launched a report, calling for an investment strategy to replace the failed austerity measures which have lost the Scottish economy £24 billion in GDP since 2007.
Our recommended approach would echo the economic measures that ended the Great Depression of the 1930s and ensure the economic recovery is sustainable.
We are urging the next UK Government to increase public spending and borrowing modestly as part of a programme of delivering over £13bn of additional public and private investment annually into the Scottish economy, matching that of other advancedeconomies.
This additional investment will includeinfrastructure, such as transport, broadband and energy networks; research and development and a greater focus on promoting key export sectors.
Such investment will stimulate economic growth and create employment, reducing the need for draconian public spending cuts while also cutting the public sector deficit and debt.
Dan Macdonald. Founder, N-56, 112 George Street, Edinburgh.
Jam tomorrow once again
Sir, – With polls reflecting high ratings for the SNP, now is a great time for political psephologists to overindulge us with speculation about post-election possibilities.
The nationalists have a simple message. In a recent leaflet fronted by Scotland’s First Minister, she is quoted: “The SNP will play a constructive role at Westminster and bring ideas forward in a positive spirit.” She adds that her party offers “a real alternative to the drab Tory-Labour cuts consensus in Westminster.”
Nobody can really argue about the sentiment of such proclamations but what if they don’t really add up to much in economic policy or strategy terms.
Independent analysts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies stated: “Their plans do not necessarily match their anti-austerity rhetoric.”
So just like in September, we’re once again being offered jam tomorrow.
Galen Milne. Ochiltree, Dunblane.
Scotland’s wind power shame
Sir, – As we once again remember those who died in wars to secure our freedom I feel a sense of shame at our Scottish Government.
They want to remove Britain’s nuclear deterrent from Scotland yet expect to benefit from the NATO nuclear shield.
But the greatest shame I feel is in watching a government which claims to be socialist pushing up the fuel bills of the poor through its obsession with wind power.
Alan Bell. Roods, Kirriemuir.
Issue currency interest free
Sir, – Voting in the coming general election is futile as no political party has the answer to the root cause of our social and economic problems, our increasingly unpayable national debt.
Our deficit is only a symptom of theproblem.
Our national debtis rarely mentionedand usually avoided by politicians and economists yet the solution is simple.
No government should borrow money. It can and must create money itself and feed it into the economy without demanding interest.
In the 1700s theAmerican colonies did this and then in the 1800s, Abraham Lincoln issued Greenbacks and the US prospered.
In the Channel Islands, the Guernsey pound was issued under the same principle.
Unless a nation rids itself of the parasiticcentral banking system which creates money out of nothing and charges interest on it, then it is wishful thinking to hope for any meaningful change from any political party.
David Mathieson. 2 Abbey Cottages, Newburgh.