Sir, Further to Brian MacFarlane’s letter (May 21), I condemn abuse and personal smears on all sides of the referendum debate. I accept criticism is part of the job but personal abuse is not.
Secondly, I receive no salary or expenses for my councillor position so Mr MacFarlane is wrong to suggest this is the case. During the by-election campaign, I made a commitment to the Pitcorthie parents that I would stay as councillor for Dunfermline South until the future of the school is resolved.
I represented the parents at the Fife Council Executive Committee on April 15 where the decision was made to close Pitcorthie. I was advised I could only do so in my capacity as a local councillor and not as an MSP. The Pitcorthie parents themselves were not given the opportunity to present their case at the executive and therefore I spoke on their behalf.
I gave a commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pitcorthie parents and that is what I’m doing. I will, therefore, remain a councillor for Dunfermline South until the issue is resolved.
I continue to hold regular councillor surgeries in my ward and to work closely with my fellow Labour ward councillor, Billy Pollock to provide strong representation for Dunfermline South.
As to the Labour Party, I am proud to be a member of a party that has values of solidarity, equality and social justice at its heart, not nationalism and division; a party which is fighting to make a difference to people’s lives not one obsessed with constitutional issues.
As MSP for Dunfermline I am working tirelessly to represent my constituents and help make Dunfermline a better place to live, work and bring up families. Isn’t it time, we all started working together to try to make things better for everyone rather than wasting time sniping on the sidelines?
Cara Hilton. MSP for Dunfermline.
Farewell to the “light blues”
Sir, On Saturday (May 17), Leuchars and Guardbridge community councils held a farewell charity gala to celebrate the long association between the RAF Base and the communities.
On behalf of both community councils, I would like to wish all those servicemen and women and their families our heartfelt best wishes for the future. Those in ‘“light blue” may soon be gone, but they won’t be forgotten. As the sign at the border with our southern neighbour says: “Haste ye back.”
Mark Sharp, vice-Chair, Leuchars Community Council.
Parochial view is not helpful
Sir, I read with interest Ashley Watson’s letter (May 12), re the similarities between Scottish Nationalism and French-Canadian aspirations. It’s a pity she hadn’t lived in Quebec 50 years ago when Montreal was a thriving, bustling city compared with now, with its large commercial buildings up for sale or rent, vacated by the big companies who have upped sticks and moved to Toronto in the face of French nationalism.
Has she forgotten the big winter storms of a few years ago which resulted in flooding so severe that the Quebec Provincial Government were unable to cope financially and had to ask for Federal aid?
And how about Quebec City, the capital of the Province, where she will encounter many people, old and young, who have been through a modern educational system and yet pretend they do not understand English when asked for directions?
Has she never heard of the Front de Liberation Quebecois, the forerunners of the Parti Quebecois, who in the 60s were placing bombs in mail-boxes with the intention of killing or maiming innocent people and raiding army reserve depots for weapons, and who killed a guard?
I suggest that Ashley should travel across the rest of Canada and she will find that the rest of the provinces are tired of Quebec posturing and would be glad to let Quebec go its own way were it not that this would leave Canada territorially divided.
I believe, from my own experience, that in the past French-Canadians did in many instances get a raw deal from the English-speaking population but it’s time to move on and take their place in a large, prosperous nation. Ashley’s rather parochial view is not a useful contribution to the present Scottish situation.
George Dobbie. 51 Airlie Street, Alyth, Blairgowrie.
Jenny must get her facts right
Sir, Once more your columnist Jenny Hjul has moved me to tears of laughter.
She cites long time unionist Billy Connolly in her increasingly desperate attempts to discredit the Yes campaign and quotes him as saying: “[I have] more in common with a Liverpool welder that with a Highland landowner”.
That would seem a strange position for Mr Connolly to adopt as he is in fact a “Highland landowner” himself; being the Laird of Lonach.
What Mr Connolly actually said was: “I’ve always remembered that I have a lot more in common with a welder from Liverpool than I do with someone with an agricultural background from the Highlands.”
So, as per usual, Ms Hjul plays fast and loose with the facts and, if I may be so bold, if she cannot get simple facts correct how can we trust a single word she says?
Henry Malcolm. 331 Clepington Road, Dundee.
Sainted site
Sir, Re the renaming of Broxden, why don’t we knock down the City Hall and rename the new area Saintees Square? What a wonderful site (and sight) that would have been on Sunday if the open top bus tour could have culminated there.
Peter Cargill. 8 South Inch Park, Perth.