Sir, – I refer to the letter by Nicholas Kopp (January 2) which seems to be a plea for special status for Dundee, irrespective of the economics involved in developing Dundee airport as hub connector to Europe and elsewhere.
There is an existing and perfectly acceptable flight schedule to Amsterdam from Edinburgh Airport, as there is from Glasgow.
There are direct tram and park and ride facilities at Edinburgh Airport, and huge on-site car-parking. The airport is being constantly improved and developed.
Why try to replicate such services at Dundee when most central belt dwelling Scots can get to Edinburgh in around 90 minutes?
It makes no sense, other than being a manifestation of misplaced regional pride.
I frequently use the KLM/Air France service from Edinburgh to Amsterdam, simply because Schipol is more user-friendly than the London airports for transit passengers.
From the East Neuk, I can be at Edinburgh Airport in an hour, about the same time as it would take to get to Dundee.
There are already adequate services for passengers and cargo in the central belt, so the emergence of Dundee as a direct business- oriented destination seems unsupportable.
As for being “dragged out” of the EU, and marginalised, Scotland remains in great danger of being marginalised by the SNP ambitions for independence from the UK, that would result in a smaller and poorer economy.
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Duty to teach right from wrong
Sir, – While I agree with much of your editorial (December 30) on school religion, I believe we have a duty to educate our children not only about the content of different faiths but about how to approach the whole issue of truth (as well as morality).
That is, how to evaluate different arguments and how to use evidence (as they must in science and other topics), and so to form their own opinions.
Only views one has come to for oneself will really last.
I am also convinced that one does not need any specific theory of the universe in order to know right from wrong, and above all, act on it.
The basis of morality is surely: how would you like it if someone did that to you?
Confucius and also Jesus rightly perceived this.
Antony Black.
79 Blackness Avenue,
Dundee.
Praise for staff at a caring PRI
Sir, – I have just returned home after a brief but worrisome time in Perth Royal Infirmary. From the time the ambulance arrived at 12.20am on New Year’s Day to my discharge on January 2, I received quite the finest and personal attention imaginable.
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the ambulance crew, the doctors and nurses in wards three, four and five – all of whom were classic examples of a thoroughly caring NHS. I wish them all the best for 2017.
Alasdair (Sandy) Charleson.
7 Fonab Crescent,
Pitlochry.
Still no appetite for indyref2
Sir, – Your editorial comment on Saturday last, “Happy New Year whatever it brings”, astounded me.
It was the sentence “closer to home, demands for a second Scottish Independence referendum are growing”.
You obviously have not picked upon the BMG poll published on Friday December 30 surveying people’s voting intentions in 2017.
This showed a clear majority of 61.5% of voters surveyed do not want another referendum in 2017.
The last thing the SNP should do is try people’s patience with another.
As a political activist, I can assure you from comments on the doorsteps, people want to move on. After having two referendums in two years, the public have had enough.
Nicola Sturgeon should heed the views of her own Gordon Wilson who advises against trying again in 2017.
The SNP had its opportunity and lost. Its politicians should accept it and get on with governing the country for the better, if that is possible.
I can only assume your published views are centred on results in Dundee. These do not reflect what opinions are throughout Courier Country.
George A Cormack.
McLauchlan Rise,
Aberdour.
Pulling out of indy nosedive
Sir, – Former SNP leader Gordon Wilson has given a hard yank on the joystick that has to pull the SNP and Scotland out of our indy nose dive to disaster.
We are in no shape to stand on our own two feet.
Our independence dowry would include a structural deficit and inherited share of UK debt, a nation with among the highest rates of lifestyle-induced illness, welfare dependency and broken homes in the developed world, plunging education performance made worse by poor behaviour, motivation and discipline, a public sector badly in need of restructure and a shortage of the kind of low-cost, good housing that families need to flourish.
Mr Wilson’s intervention has given the SNP legitimacy to execute the policies, reports and initiatives that its politicians have been scared to enact for fear of alienating its core voter base.
The party should reshape the trashed named person scheme into a platform for intervention in targeted families, supported by the findings of the the Eisenstadt Report on fixing poverty and universal benefits, implement the welfare and benefits powers the party asked to be delayed for four years, get cracking on fracking and genuinely work with the UK Government to deliver a Brexit solution that benefits Scotland within the UK.
The reality check, efficiency and prosperity would enable us to more than pay our way in the UK again and make independence viable, if that is what the people want.
The solution is so radical that the SNP needs cross-party support. Its natural allies are the Conservatives and the sensible wings of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Allan Sutherland.
1 Willow Row,
Stonehaven.
Fundamental dishonesty
Sir, – Trust is critical in every aspect of our lives, and surely should be a fundamental of the relationship between our political leaders and the public?
As we start 2017, all the signs are that Nicola Sturgeon will continue to work for another independence referendum off the back of the Brexit result.
The alternative EU “plans” that she has tabled knowingly propose what neither the UK nor the EU can agree, to ensure that an independence referendum will eventually be the only option left.
Lets have some frankness First Minister.
Admit you have no intention of accepting anything proposed by the UK government on Brexit and plan instead to pursue Scottish independence, asking the people of Scotland to choose between the UK and the EU.
Keith Howell.
White Moss,
West Linton.