Sir, – Kevin Reilly (November 19) made a number of statements regarding the SNP’s position in Scotland.
He made a particular point of supporting David Dimbleby’s assertion that Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh did not speak for Scotland while participating on Question Time, as she represents the SNP, yet I recall no similar corrections by the Question Time presenter when Tory ministers claim to speak on behalf of Britain.
His other complaints, about the EU vote and Donald Trump’s triumph, could be applied to other parties’ representatives, especially so in Ruth Davidson’s case.
Mr Reilly asserted that Nicola Sturgeon is “out of her depth” which is at odds with her government’s standing as the most trusted in Europe.
He went on to add a wholly false charge regarding SNP MPs’ expenses. Scottish MPs, now mostly SNP, claim less than previous years when the bulk were unionist members.
Mr Reilly may not like the SNP, but the party has earned the right, through Scottish and UK elections, to be the voice of Scotland.
If your correspondent knows of an alternative voice, perhaps he can name them and the source of their mandate.
His other complaint, regarding a stronger Scotland under SNP management will only be answered after all of Scotland’s assets are controlled by our own government. At present, London control has resulted in our wealth being squandered year after year, decade after decade.
Better and stronger together we are told. All the evidence proves the falsehood behind that narrative.
Ken Clark.
335 King Street,
Broughty Ferry.
Israel has moral high ground
Sir, – The story of the aid (November 22) gifted to Palestine by Dundee firefighter Jim Malone and the FBU would be welcome evidence of a humanitarian caring disposition except for the implication that Israel is at fault for taking time to inspect for materials that might be used by the terrorist Palestinians of Hamas.
On the one hand, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, has declared he will never recognise Israel; on the other, Hamas, governing Gaza, is committed by its charter to the destruction of Israel and the Jews.
It takes thousands of rockets fired at Israel before it retaliates and it is a matter of history that Israel does not attack without provocation.
It is not difficult to choose who holds the high moral ground, unless, of course, one has personal or political reasons
It would surely be better for all concerned were Jim Malone and his Fire Brigades Union to concentrate on extinguishing the fires in Dundee rather than stoking the fires of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Andrew Lawson.
9 MacLaren Gardens,
Dundee.
Rail hypocrisy from Labour
Sir, – In 1995 when Tony Blair was trying to win support for the abolition of Clause 4 (which committed Labour to public ownership) he set up a committee under John Prescott to look at renationalising the railways.
The commitment to renationalise the railways was quietly dropped after Virgin franchise owner Richard Branson endorsed Tony Blair.
In his conference speech in 2004, Gordon Brown, in a rare moment of agreement with Tony Blair, ruled out renationalising the railways.
He said the cost of £22 billion was too much and if he had that spare he would have invested it in health and education. Three years later, as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown managed to find £1 trillion to bail out the banks.
Jeremy Corbyn has now committed Labour to public ownership of the railways.
The problems of the railways are due to decades of underinvestment by successive Westminster governments.
For Labour to try to blame Humza Yousaf for the state of Scotland’s railways is entirely self-serving.
Alan Hinnrichs.
2 Gillespie Terrace,
Dundee.
Police stations under threat
Sir, – In his criticism of Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles over proposed police station closures, Councillor Kevin Cordell (November 22) claimed this is “peddling a lie”.
He seems unaware that a list has been published of some 58 police stations across Scotland earmarked for possible closure, including Broughty Ferry.
If Police Scotland is now clarifying that it will re-open a station for Broughty Ferry at a different location, that is to be welcomed, but what about the other 57 communities across Scotland that it is proposed will lose their local police office completely?
Councillor Cordell tries to pin the closures on police operational decisions but we all know that these decisions are being forced on the police as a direct result of the Scottish Government’s disastrous abolition of local police forces, the centralisation of decision making away from local communities and a resultant £21 million black hole in the Police Scotland budget.
Cllr Fraser Macpherson.
West End,
Dundee City Council.
Paradox of human life
Sir, – Moira Symons’ correspondence in this column commenting both for and against the existence of God suggests that a definitive answer to the conundrum will not be found.
Persons who achieve the most they can in their lives may well experience a sense of both fulfilment and uncertainty on dying, whatever beliefs they hold.
After all, if the measure of life is fulfilled, all really is said and done, and indeed, what then might be left?
Yet many also hold that this life, often one of sadness, pain and great suffering, will be compensated in time through the promises of the creator, providing hope and sustenance through living beyond the immediate.
The answer to the paradox of human life is unlikely to be found within the limits of human life.
Andrew Lothian.
69 Dundee Road,
Dundee.
Scots students frozen out
Sir, – Last week’s papers contained graduation lists from Heriot-Watt University among many others.
This is a serious, institution. A sample of courses listed were construction project management, civil engineering management, petroleum engineering and quantity surveying.
These are meaningful subjects vital to the future of our country and in which we should be investing to train our home-grown talent.
However, on scanning the names of the graduates, I hardly found any with UK or EU origins.
Why? The answer has to be that they don’t pay fees. The majority were from countries from which students would have to pay tuition fees.
By training these people, we are investing in the future of their countries at the expense of our own to sustain the SNP myth of free tuition for Scottish students.
The SNP’s misguided obsession with free tuition for Scots will result in Scotland losing the home-grown skills in technology and science which once were held in the highest esteem the world over as places for the brightest Scots students go to fee-paying students from abroad.
Donald Lewis.
Pine Cottage,
Beech Hill,
Gifford.