Sir, – Why is the Queensferry Crossing (June 22) to be closed to traffic for two days in early September to allow for a mass walk over the thoroughfare?
It seems that the Scottish Government was determined it would be open to traffic by the end of August, and so officials have done everything to ensure that was the case.
Would the reputation of the Government, or the future of the Scottish economy, have been shattered if the opening to traffic had been delayed for a few more weeks?
Instead we have an almost ridiculous example of the cart being put before the horse.
The bridge will be opened for vehicles to cross, then closed for two days, then opened again for vehicles. You couldn’t make this up.
Notwithstanding all that, I want to express my joy that this major project is shortly to be completed.
I have crossed the existing road bridge by bus almost weekly in the last two years and never cease to wonder at the spectacle on both sides.
It is interesting to note that a five-year-old gazing at the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890 would have been nearly 80 when the Forth Road Bridge opened in 1964 and would surely have wondered at the progress we have made in transport.
Nobody will be old enough to have witnessed the opening of all three ventures but we have heard from engineers who have worked on the construction of both road bridges.
That sense of continuity is something Scotland can be rightly proud of as we welcome the completion of a major technological feat.
Bob Taylor.
24 Shiel Court,
Glenrothes.
Do not forget local people
Sir, – At last, an opening date for the Queensferry Crossing has been announced.
I for one am looking forward to walking across but only 50,000 are being allowed on the bridge and the decision is being made by ballot.
A total of 50,000 applications from all over the world were received on the first day and are still coming in.
It would be ironic if local people were not successful in the ballot, but people from other countries were able to walk over the bridge.
I am all for showing off Scotland’s achievements, but surely we should be given some priority to enjoy them too.
We have all contributed towards the cost and endured the delays and disruption the construction has caused, and we could end up on the sidelines while strangers are crossing our lovely new bridge.
George Sharp.
16a St Marys Road,
Kirkcaldy.
Mr Rowley must do more
Sir, – Alex Rowley MSP has finally decided to write to the Scottish Government to ask for a “review” into operations at the ethylene plant at Mossmorran.
People have been raising concerns about Mossmorran for years. Mossmorran has been given to bouts of emergency flaring for years and local residents have been contacting Mr Rowley with their worries for years, both in his previous capacity as a constituency MSP and as a councillor.
Mr Rowley lives in Kelty, so he can hardly have been unaware of the plant and its impacts.
Why on earth didn’t Mr Rowley do something about the situation before? Why wasn’t it top of his agenda when he led Fife Council?
When it comes to writing letters to the Scottish Government, which grabs headlines but which Mr Rowley knows will be ineffectual, the MSP has prior form.
He notoriously took the side of Fifers beleaguered by wind energy applications in the run-up to the 2012 elections to write the Scottish Government a letter to ask for a moratorium on further wind development. He was met with blank refusal.
If Mr Rowley is genuine in wanting to help the people of Central Fife who have been suffering because of Mossmorran for decades, he is going to have to do more than ping an email to the Scottish Government and issue a press release.
(Cllr) Linda Holt.
Dreel House.
Pittenweem.
Get tough on illegal migrants
Sir, – The tragic death of a Polish van driver at Calais in France as a result of the violent action of migrants seeking to reach our island brutally illustrates quiet how bizarre our immigration and asylum policy is.
The van driver was on his way lawfully to Britain to contribute to our economy and society, as millions of other east Europeans have been doing in recent years.
By contrast, the migrants who caused his death had crossed two continents unlawfully and were willing to use dangerous violence to get in to our country.
As indicators of unsuitability for admission to our society, repeated unlawfulness and dangerous violence are hard to beat.
And yet had these highwaymen, and I use that term advisedly, reached Britain we would have had to entertain asylum and protection claims from them, and even if those claims were rejected, they would have been unlikely to have been returned to their own country.
This, of course, assumes that they bothered to apply for asylum. They might very well have chosen to disappear into the black economy in one of our major cities.
The Home Office estimates illegal immigration to be of the order of 150,000 people every year.
We need a government with the will to implement firm and speedy legal processes and ensure the certain deportation of all unlawful migrants.
Otto Inglis.
6 Inveralmond Grove.
Edinburgh.
SNP does have clear mandate
Sir, – Your correspondent Allan Sutherland seems to hate democracy and suggests the SNP have no mandate for another referendum.
May 2016: the SNP run for the Scottish Parliament on a manifesto of a second independence referendum, if there is “a significant and material change of the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will.” The SNP won for a third term no less.
June 2016: the UK narrowly votes to Leave the EU but 62% of Scots elect to Remain, triggering the “material change of circumstances”.
March 2017: after various Scottish Government proposals allowing Scotland to stay in both the UK and EU are thwarted by Theresa May, the Scottish Parliament passes a bill for a second independence referendum by a majority of 69 to 59.
May 2017: the SNP publish their manifesto for the UK election which states that “if the SNP wins a majority of Scottish seats, that would complete a triple lock (on the referendum), further reinforcing the democratic mandate which already exists”.
June 2017: the SNP win 35 out of 59 Scottish seats, a clear majority. The mandate is thus triple-locked.
May 2015: Tories win on 24% of the eligible vote and 37% of the actual vote but this was deemed good enough for an EU referendum. In 2017 the Tories look for a double-lock for Brexit and end up with a hung parliament.
Rod Selbie.
45 Silver Birch Drive,
Dundee.