Sir, – I have recently arranged to change my energy supplier.
I realise that it is necessary to do this in order to get the best deal for myself and to make competition between suppliers work to reduce prices for everyone.
However, I do resent having to spend time doing this.
The end result might well be a reduction in the price that I pay for the next year but I fear that my reduction will be paid for by higher prices for those people who have not got the time or inclination to research prices for themselves.
It is unlikely that lower prices paid by me and others will result in reduced profits for the energy companies.
In theory, the policy of competition between suppliers was supposed to result in greater efficiency and lower prices for all.
Is it really efficient to have so many suppliers, each with their own administration and highly-paid executives?
In practice, the competition between suppliers is in how to fool customers into contracts that will ultimately result in them paying higher prices.
There is some evidence that our politicians realise that the market is not working.
If it were working there would be no need for regulators and the introduction of caps on prices.
Surely it is time to abandon the whole idea and return to a single supplier of each type of domestic fuel.
Michael Vansittart.
6 The Cribbs,
St Monans.
Wind turbines killing raptors
Sir, – You reported (May 27) another effort to end illegal killing of birds of prey, allegedly perpetrated by some gamekeepers, as yet claimed to be insufficiently discouraged by present regulations.
The killing of, especially, raptors in large numbers and of bats is well established worldwide as an effect of onshore wind turbines, soon to be compounded by the killing of seabirds by offshore turbine arrays approved by the Scottish Government.
Whether killed by man or machine, the illegal avian slaughter continues apace, but the promoters of the wind turbines are protected, it seems, from prosecution or even censure.
Is there a conspiracy of silence to let these machines continue to kill?
(Dr) Charles Wardrop.
111 Viewlands Road West,
Perth.
Poor timing by Jeremy Corbyn
Sir, – Jeremy Corbyn is making the case that terrorist atrocities are linked to the UK’s military actions in Muslim states including Syria.
This has been instantly criticised for both its veracity and its timing. Several people, including former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke, have made the point that the UK has been a historic target for Islamic terrorist groups since before we got involved in military action.
They have missed the point that many of the terrorists are young, alienated men, who are affected by the United Kingdom’s recent actions.
As far as the timing goes, Mr Corbyn is showing great insensitivity to Manchester and the victims and their families and also great political naivety if he did not realise that expressing this view would lead to such a strong reaction from Tory supporters.
I get really annoyed when the media speculate on how these murderers were radicalised. A 22-year-old does not unwillingly or unwittingly get radicalised by big boys.
They are radicals who seek an expression or vehicle for their twisted, alienated attitudes to Western society, including their own birth countries.
At 22, could you have had your mind twisted to this level of atrocity against your will?
Robert Ferguson.
19 New Gilston,
Leven.
Wealth does not trickle down
Sir, – Graeme Fox in reply to Joseph Miller who wrote about a fairer tax system, sadly misses the point.
The issue is nothing to do with class politics but a reflection of fairness or otherwise. People who have a large income surplus over and above their daily needs save that income, increasingly for some, in offshore banks.
Money given to those on lower or non-surplus incomes does directly circulate in the economy, and eventually trickles up to the wealthy but generating lots more social benefit in the process.
Money not spent in the economy but saved trickles nowhere.
Trickle down does not work. Yes, some of the income excess does get spent locally, but in comparison to what is not spent it is tiny.
Tax cuts that allow the wealthy to save even more are an anomaly when so many people are struggling to pay their way.
Yes, people should save for the future, but to do that there has to be a surplus of income over daily needs.
Nick Cole.
Balmacron Farmhouse,
Meigle.
Scotland has been belittled
Sir, – I couldn’t disagree more with your correspondent Keith Howell. I believe we should be horrified at any atrocity committed anywhere around the world and the title British has nothing to do with that, it is simply decent human nature.
I also believe the British title creates the opposite of a feel-good factor.
I am Dundonian, Scottish, British and European. From the four identities the one that was foisted on me is the British one.
No one can be born British. It is impossible, yet it is the one that dominates my life, for example, the British identity has already decided I’m no longer European. The same identity belittles my country Scotland. Seemingly Scotland would be a complete basket case outwith British rule.
I can no longer find anything in my supermarket from bacon to apples without the British stamp on it. My new driving licence and passport are the same.
I have even seen British haggis and British whisky. The Scottish identity is being slowly eroded. I will continue to fight for my Scottish identity: my true birth place.
Rodric Selbie.
45 Silver Birch Drive,
Dundee.
Chance to make own choices
Sir, – Your correspondent Derek Farmer just does not get the significant point of independence, which is that, in an independent Scotland, the people will elect a government of their choice to implement the policies they vote for.
And, if they vote for an extreme right-wing clique who are determined to impoverish the people while rewarding their rich friends, alienating most of our closest friends abroad, destroying the NHS, continuing to get involved militarily around the world in matters which are none of our business, and all the rest, well, so be it. We voted for it.
But that is not the case at the moment. The clear majority of the Scottish people did not vote for any of the above and hopefully will reject it again in the coming general election.
Les Mackay.
5 Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.