Sir, Few people outside of the farming community will have attached much significance to Ewan Pate’s excellent article (April 10) – Irish beef cattle trade represents marked contrast.
The background is that despite fairly tight supplies of cattle on Scottish farms, the Scottish meat trade is finding beef difficult to sell and stocks have piled up while Scottish ex farm beef prices have fallen substantially.
Ewan writes: “In marked contrast to Scotland, where cattle farmers are facing four or five-week delays in securing an abattoir slot, demand in the Irish Republic is reportedly so strong that meat processors are actively seeking stock’’.
What Ewan doesn’t say is exactly why Scottish beef sales have fallen badly while sales of Irish and English beef remain relatively buoyant. This is happening because every time Nicola Sturgeon or Alex Salmond pop up on UK-wide television and offer their latest diatribe on how they are going to bring England to heel, it only serves to annoy our customers south of the Tweed. As a result, when these consumers are out shopping and are faced with packs of beef on the shelf, they are avoiding Scottish beef and picking up English or Irish beef instead. This isn’t a new phenomenon, it also happened during the Referendum and one cannot really blame our friends and customers in England.
No doubt SNP activists will shrug their shoulders and take the view that this collateral damage to the businesses of a few Scottish farmers is a price worth paying. I think it goes much wider than that as I hear that holiday visitors from England were thin on the ground in Scotland this Easter despite the good weather. Whether that is a result of Salmond and Sturgeon’s TV appearances or whether it is a result of the reduced drink-drive limit might be arguable. However, what is clear is that businesses cannot carry on with SNP politicians continuing to upset our customers.
Douglas Norrie. Denhead of Arbirlot, Arbroath.
United silence is deafening
Sir, As a Dundee United fan, season-ticket holder, shareholder and former director, I feel compelled to comment on recent events at Tannadice.
The board of Dundee United should be thoroughly ashamed. Allowing Jackie McNamara to take the flak over bonuses for the sale of players is outrageous.
The people who gave him the contract should take the responsibility. The silence coming from chairman Stephen Thompson is deafening.
GB Haggart. 17 Lochty Street, Carnoustie.
Treated with compassion
Sir, On March 27 2015 my mother Margaret Birrell was admitted to the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
She was treated at admission unit one and subsequently in ward 51.
No amount of money could have purchased better care and treatment than she received in these units.
During her stay in hospital I was obliged to inform her of the death of her 98-year-old sister.
Every member of staff she came into contact with treated her professionally, respectfully and with compassion and consideration.
David T Birrell. 25 Marygate, Pittenweem.
Last excuse has been removed
Sir, As the grandson of an immigrant, I share the national fury when illegal immigrants and foreign criminals use the European Convention on Human Rights to dodge deportation.
Frustrated by judicial perversity, Home Secretary Theresa May recently introduced the French system which first deports foreign crooks and then allows them to appeal against removal.
Now, in a landmark ruling, eight European Court judges have rejected out of hand the absurd notion that no foreigner can be deported if it will “interfere with their right to a family life”.
This removes the last excuse our judges have to act with such obvious satisfaction against the national interest and expose the British public to foreign rapists and violent felons.
Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
Small price for UK security
Sir, The SNP keep claiming replacing Trident will cost £100 billion.
This is a figure they got from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who are not impartial, and which includes annual maintenance and upkeep.
The strategic defence review’s figure is £25bn at today’s prices spread over 30 years, something around £1bn a year to the UK.
Even if the £100bn was correct, we are talking about £3bn a year over 30 years.
To put this into perspective the UK public spending and welfare costs for 2015 alone will be well in excess of £700bn, a figure that is bound to rise each year over the Trident lifespan.
It seems to me that given the increasingly parlous state of the world, this is a small price to pay for our continuing national security.
The only country to give up nuclear weapons was Ukraine and look what is happening there.
Donald Lewis. Pine Cottage, Gifford, East Lothian.