Sir, – The Scottish Government’s consultation on ending child poverty and the ambitious targets it is proposing are very welcome.
However, in this week’s announcement there was little focus on the crucial role of decent housing for every child in Scotland.
A safe, secure and affordable home is a basic right for everyone and fundamental to life chances.
Without this, children are less likely to have the same level of educational attainment as their peers.
Without a warm and safe home, children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes over their lifetime.
For example, children in cold homes are twice as likely to suffer respiratory problems.
So, in considering the various paths towards ending child poverty in Scotland, it is paramount that tackling Scotland’s housing crisis is at the heart of it.
Only by building at least 12,000 affordable homes a year for the foreseeable future can we start to tackle the crisis – a crisis that affects us all and one that carries a very human cost, especially for children.
Graeme Brown.
Director,
Shelter Scotland,
Scotiabank House.
Morality says no to named persons
Sir, – Like Mr Donald Lewis (letters, August 6) I would like to know the Scottish Government’s position on religion, if indeed they have one.
Both Lady Thatcher and David Cameron expressed a desire to see Britain brought back to decent moral standards.
I hear no such desire from Holyrood.
There are plenty of people of no particular religious persuasion who do not want their privilege of parenthood undermined by a complete stranger, hence it’s “no to named persons”.
Leslie Morrison.
Nursery Caravan Site,
Nursery Lane,
Brechin.
First Minister’s parochialism
Sir, – As a proud Scot and unionist I enjoyed the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.
Not only did I share Andy Murray’s pride as he led Team GB carrying the union flag, it was great to see the smiling anticipation of the participants from countries all over the world hoping to do well.
I was reminded of our national bard’s famous words, appropriate on this occasion: “That man to man, the world o’er shall brothers be for a’ that!”
However, I was soon reminded of the embarrassing narrow-minded, parochial world of the SNP when I read Nicola Sturgeon’s good luck message to the “Scots only” members of Team GB, with no mention of the other athletes from the rest of the UK in the team.
RHL Mulheron.
28 Cowgate,
Tayport.
Low interest rates rob savers
Sir, – The incredibly low interest rate is succeeding in sustaining high house prices, especially in London and district.
However, for those who have managed to squirrel away something in the way of savings, it is having a devastating effect.
The pockets of those who have scraped together a modest £10,000 are being picked to the tune of around £10 a week – £10 few can afford.
It would seem there are gangsters in the Treasury and in Westminster.
Those mentioned in The Godfather “with a briefcase, who can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”
Joseph G Miller.
44 Gardeners St,
Dunfermline.
Obsession with Gaelic must end
Sir, – The parliamentary counsel office has advised the SNP Government against unnecessary use of Gaelic and to “always use English as far as possible”.
According to the 2011 census, 99% of the 5,118,223 residents of Scotland over the age of three can speak English.
Yet, under the SNP, and at significant cost, Gaelic has crept into our education system, onto our road signs in parts of Scotland where Gaelic has never been spoken and now apparently unnecessarily into our legislation.
The SNP’s Gaelic drive is clearly not required by necessity. It’s part of its unceasing mission to create a sense of separateness from our fellow countrymen and women across the UK when, in practice, none exists.
Martin Redfern.
Royal Circus,
Edinburgh.
Parents should be married
Sir, – Every woman of a certain age can have a child whether she is capable of being a good mother or not and whether the man she partners is capable of being a good father.
It is an unlucky child who ends up with a disastrous mother and her equally disastrous partner.
Enter the named person who is supposed to act as a surrogate
parent and save the child from a living hell.
It all sounds so sensible. But is it?
Women have always produced children by accident or for strategic reasons other than motherhood.
Sometimes these babies were killed, sometimes sold and sometime given away.
As for the man in a female’s life, the animal world is awash with males seeking to eliminate another male’s offspring so as to dominate the female he is with.
Marriage is the foundation of family life in which children are born and nurtured. It enriches society and strengthens community.
No one should enter into it lightly or selfishly, but reverently and responsibly in the sight of almighty God.
Unfortunately our liberal sensibilities have led us astray. In the past, a child born out of wedlock was usually spirited away.
Now we say anyone can have a child without any obligation. Social services will stand by to pick up the pieces, we assure ourselves.
The named person initiative is just another sticking plaster and will not solve the problem of inappropriate parents.
Will the named person find it any easier to extract a child from an unholy union than social services did? I doubt it, even if having a named person to blame other than the parent might make us feel better.
No. We need to turn the clock back and call a spade a spade.
Before children must come a marriage and a marriage must be a moral (and legal) commitment by two people to sustain and nurture any children they produce or assume responsibility for.
Any child born outside this structure should automatically become the responsibility of the wider community and be placed with an appropriate member of the woman’s wider family or, failing that, with a couple who want children or, failing that into a properly appointed community-run home.
Taxpayer payments to single mothers should go the way of the dodo and the named person initiative should be strangled at birth.
Robert Mercer-Nairne.
Kinclaven Church House,
Perth.