Sir, – The saga of our handsome Perth City Hall groans on.
Good ideas put forward for a food market and hotel were turned down. We now wait for details of the council’s plan to display of artefacts from the museum and art gallery there.
Money from the taxpayer (at least £160,000) has been spent for well over a decade on maintenance of the city hall. This has involved the removal of dead birds, raw sewage and replacing broken windows. I have been to concerts there, have given blood and friends have danced on the only sprung dance floor in Perth.
Why, when the concert hall was being built did no one ask what we were to use the city hall for?
Like Sir Winston Churchill, we need a person to take charge of the situation and decide once and for all to get this sorted out for the people of Perth.
Isabel Wardrop.
111 Viewlands Road,
Perth.
Dresden attack not justified
Sir, – I could respond to George Cormack by saying I have an Edinburgh University history degree but in this era, having a professional qualification in a field makes one immediately suspect.
I have read Klemperer’s, I Shall Bear Witness, as well as Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut’s (a prisoner of war in Dresden during the attack) and much else bedsides.
My father knew the pre-war baroque gem and, as a German-speaking padre, managed to visit in the summer of 1945 and speak to both civilians and the remaining British POWs.
He did not so much blame Arthur Harris as Air Staff Chief Charles Portal, a relative of Archbishop Justin Welby, who recently journeyed to Dresden to express his very personal regrets.
Harris’s chaplain, Canon Collins, told my father he meant to say: “We should both threaten to resign” but felt Harris was under such pressure he demurred and blamed himself for the raid.
Of course, nothing I can say will change the minds of those who believe creating a fire storm around refugee women and children can be construed as serving the greater good.
Rev Dr John Cameron.
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews.
Concentrate on home matters
Sir, – In reply to Alex Orr (December 30), Holyrood now has substantial authority over taxation in Scotland.
The problem of the SNP is that the continuation of public freebies, such as free prescriptions and free university tuition for all EU students has to be funded somehow.
The working population of Scotland is relatively small, which constrains the level of income to government from personal taxation.
Additionally, higher rates of corporation taxes on business will simply discourage investment in Scotland, especially when multi-nationals can rather easily move to nearby Ireland, which already has the lowest rates of corporation tax in the EU.
The SNP in government needs to be far more realistic about the affordability of public service funding, and needs to cut its cloth accordingly.
It might also help if they discontinued the constant complaining about Westminster and started to work constructively with the UK Treasury for funding and investment solutions for Scotland that would alleviate the fund-raising headaches.
The problem is that we have absolutely no idea what the SNP governing strategy is, apart from the obsession with independence from the United Kingdom.
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Government spin on bridge
Sir, – I was disappointed to read your report on the excellent progress on the Queensferry Crossing bridge project, which was presumably taken from a Scottish Government spin doctor’s handout.
The truth of the matter is that the bridge is woefully behind the original programme and is not expected to be open for business until May next year, some six months late. I note also that it is supposedly under budget, despite the contractors’ additional costs incurred by the delays.
I daresay, however, that the additional costs will be notified on the day Prince Harry gets engaged or a similar distracting event is announced .
Councillor Mac Roberts.
Perth and Kinross Council,
Ward One,
Carse of Cowrie.
Problems facing Scots economy
Sir, – Some dyed-in-the-wool supporters of Scottish nationalism, with recent rises in oil prices, celebrate a return to pre-independence referendum rhetoric: North Sea oil and gas will make an independent Scotland a land paved with gold.
Alex Salmond made reckless promises in 2014 when oil was $113 per barrel, promises most of us failed to believe.
Let’s remember a barrel of Brent Crude, even after recent increases, still languishes at merely $55.
Sadly, it needs to be $80 a barrel before it is even viable to extract from the North Sea and few experts foresee a price anywhere near this level next year or in the medium term.
In addition, a higher oil price pushes up the cost of petrol, domestic energy bills, costs for business and industry and all food and goods transported by road and that impacts on everyone’s standard of living.
Regrettably we must accept we live in post-oil boom Scotland.
The Scottish economy isn’t just about oil but there’s little doubt that without either oil or the generous Barnett Formula, Scots would face both massive tax increases and swingeing cuts to public services.
Martin Redfern.
Royal Circus,
Edinburgh.
Hand back your UK passport
Sir, – So John Mason MSP does not feel British or understand what British values are. Maybe he should consider tolerance as one such value
He should perhaps respect that an opposing view is not necessarily bigoted or blinkered.
He should perhaps respect that acknowledging the outcomes of elections is part of a mature and adult response to our democracy, even if you have misgivings.
Mr Mason could also respect that generations have lived, worked and married across the United Kingdom, building networks of friends and relations, enjoying the diversity of different backgrounds and local traditions.
If John Mason so strongly holds this view on being British, he might want to have a little look inside his passport which notes that he is a British citizen.
If he does not believe this is true he should send it back for fear of being seen as a hypocrite.
Gerry Marshall.
Thistle Cottage,
Kinnesswood.