Sir, – With the news that the proposed absorption, not merger, of the Scottish division of British Transport Police into Police Scotland is almost complete, we can now expect a diminution of effective policing on the rail network, given the record so far of Police Scotland in the wider context.
The catalogue of damage caused to policing in Scotland by the SNP has been consistently highlighted by numerous correspondents but to no avail.
Of course, the real reason for the specific targeting of the Transport Police by the Scottish Government is, quite simply, that the SNP hates anything English and/or British.
They simply could not tolerate an institution called British Transport Police operating in Scotland.
The overwhelming response to the so-called consultation on the subject was one of rejection of the idea, but it is going ahead regardless.
The men and women of the Scottish BTP can now look forward to dogmatic rule from the old Strathclyde hierarchy in Glasgow, lack of proper leadership, uncertainty of purpose, continual abstraction from their core roles and functions, less attractive conditions of service and more.
All of the foregoing has been manifestly evident in Police Scotland where the morale of the rank and file has been progressively shattered.
It is just a great pity that Ms Sturgeon and her crew cannot actually be charged with such institutional vandalism, not only in the police, but across all of our public services.
Jim Shaw.
Hill Street,
Dundee.
Big lie defrauds Scots people
Sir, – It was with no surprise, while reading Martin Redfern (January 7), that we learnt he socialises with people in England who share his opinion of the Scottish Government.
There is a chicken or egg angle to this I will not dwell on, but his assertion that the Barnett Formula is a major complaint smacks of the “too wee, too poor” accusation aimed in Scotland’s direction for generations.
Mr Redfern, along with the establishment he supports, is obviously an adherent of Joseph Goebbel’s principle of propaganda: make a lie big and repeat it ad nauseam.
The accepted orthodoxy, that England subsidises Scotland, drummed into Scots and our southern neighbours, has been a pernicious policy designed exclusively to defraud an entire nation of its assets.
The divisive results of this great British lie are, as Mr Redfern himself reveals, only too apparent.
The independence debate centres on good governance.
Mr Redfern’s friends should compare and contrast Scotland’s Government with their own before making their judgments.
I suspect , however, with the likes of Mr Redfern stirring anti-Scottish feelings while there, they won’t be allowed the opportunity.
Ken Clark.
335 King Street,
Broughty Ferry.
Baby boxes a cynical ploy?
Sir, – I have just seen the reporting of the latest poorly considered SNP wheeze to create feel-good emotions in the population of Scotland.
That is the great baby box, to be presented to the parents of every newborn in Scotland at a reported cost of £6 million.
This is the sort of initiative that we see being employed by international aid agencies in what used to be termed the Third World and initiated for the primary purpose of improving infant survival rates.
Is this what Scotland has now become?
Does the SNP hierarchy believe this is a necessary benefit to be delivered to all?
Or is it just another cynical ploy to endear themselves to a population that is being failed on so many issues of governance?
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Enlightened approach
Sir, – I agree wholeheartedly with your reporter Craig Smith’s article concerning the baby boxes supplied by the Scottish Government.
Surely this can and should only be seen as a good, positive gift to give to new parents.
On a personal level, my sister lost a baby to cot death over 50 years ago and as a family we are still affected by this, so in my opinion, anything that reduces the infant mortality rate surely has to be good.
People should put politics aside and not try to score points through this wonderful gesture.
As Craig reported, only in Scotland could something so positive be seen as a negative.
Wake up people and appreciate the good things that are happening in our country.
I shared the news about the baby boxes on social media and people from all over the world were applauding their introduction.
Margaret Gibb.
5 The Barns,
Burntisland.
Fife needs more devolution
Sir, – It is instructive to look at the report on the introduction of Sunday parking charges in Fife and to see that the vast majority of objections came from St Andrews.
When the proposal came before the council committee, the Conservative group argued that it should be decided location by location by the local councillors for the areas affected.
In a large and diverse place as Fife, there’s no good reason why this sort of thing should be determined on a one-size-fits-all basis by a committee, most of whose members represent areas that will not be affected.
Our push for greater devolution is consistently resisted because it is administratively inconvenient – “impractical and unworkable” to quote the council leader.
Yet it is more and more obvious that the only way out of the budgetary squeeze is to push decision making down to a point where councillors and the public can look and say “we don’t think you should spend the money on this – you should do that instead”.
If St Andrews, or Dunfermline or Kirkcaldy or wherever, do not want Sunday parking charges then they should be free to reject them but they must then say what the extra income won’t be spent on.
Whatever that is must be local enough to matter to those making the decision.
Cllr Dave Dempsey.
Fife Council Conservative Group,
7 Carlingnose Park,
North Queensferry.
Time to honour Jocky Wilson
Sir, – If Dunblane is to get a statue of Andy Murray, isn’t it time there was a statue of Jocky Wilson, pictured, erected in Kirkcaldy? Everyone loved him. There has been talk over the years of a plaque in the sea wall but a statue would be much better.
Moira Brown.
142 Gray Street,
Broughty Ferry.
