Sir, – If Bifab’s £100m contract, out of a total investment of £2.6bn, is the “substantial” part of Scottish industries’ share of the Beatrice project something has gone terribly wrong between Alex Salmond’s “Saudi Arabia of Renewables” hype and actual delivery.
The same points could be made about the offshore decommissioning opportunity, the low Scottish content in the Forth Crossing and the failure of Scottish shipbuilding to take advantage of the market for supply vessels on its doorstep, an opportunity snapped up by Norway, among others.
And even the much hyped Scottish software industry is unimpressive.
Fortunes have been vastly overspent by the Scottish Government on police for a custom written system built for the Spanish Garda Civil, NHS24 and farm payments. And given the ridiculous potential for developing systems for the new benefits agency, taxation powers and up to 111 EU powers that the SNP are clamouring for, you’d think we would have a burgeoning IT industry.
In fact we don’t have one Scottish owned or based company capable of taking on the overall commercial or technical risk of these projects.
The reasons for this are many and varied but they start with the phrase “we’re not as good as we think we are, or we were”.
And until we admit that and do something about it, things will get worse.
Allan Sutherland.
1 Willow Row,
Stonehaven.
Culture move is premature
Sir – The decision to eliminate UK bids, including one from Dundee, for European Capital of Culture 2023 is not just arrogant, it is premature. The European Commission has no way of knowing how the Brexit negotiations are going to unfold.
The United Kingdom may well be out of the EU by 2019 but may be affiliated to it in some way like Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
Cities in these countries have been successful in the past in winning the European Capital of Culture bids.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that a petty political point is being made as the negotiations over withdrawal become more and more complex.
Cultural links such as twinning arrangements have played a very important part in the promotion of dialogue.
They have also served to encourage understanding rather than division.
We can only hope that this decision to ban UK cities from the 2023 title does not spark a wider trend that will simply serve to isolate us from our friends on the continent.
Bob Taylor.
24 Shiel Court,
Glenrothes.
EU to blame, not Westminster
Sir, – Like many others I am disappointed that Dundee is to be denied even the opportunity to bid for European City of Culture, after the decision by the EU Commission to refuse any UK application.
However, I am more than a little puzzled at the First Minister blaming this on the Tories. It was the EU Commission who pulled the plug, not the UK Government.
Perhaps the FM wants to argue that these are the rules and therefore it was an inevitable consequence of Brexit.
But if that were the case, why did the Scottish Government as well as the UK, not inform Dundee City Council that it would be pointless wasting time and money on an application that was so obviously against the rules?
The fact is that on September 17 this year the EU Parliament changed the rules so that any UK city would be excluded. The EU Commission then decided to pull the plug on the current British bids, despite these being on their own website.
In one sense the First Minister is right. This is because of Brexit. But not on this occasion because of the UK Government, rather the bureaucracy and pettiness of the EU Commission who seem to have just thrown their toys out of the pram.
If they expect the UK to continue to pay ‘our obligations’ for many years, the least they could have done was permit cities like Dundee, Derry, Leeds and Nottingham to at least enter the competition – given that Istanbul, Stavanger and Bergen (all non-EU countries) have already won it.
The pro-EU MP for Leeds, Hilary Benn spoke up for his own city when he condemned ’the EU bureaucrats for 17 wasted months’. But for the First Minister and the Scottish Government it appears that criticism of the EU is heresy and so instead, rather than blame those who pulled the plug, they just shout ‘blame the Tories’.
We don’t need the EU to tell us that we are a European city, or that we are a City of Culture and that we will continue to grow and develop, whatever the petty actions of political bureaucrats seeking to point score at ordinary people expense. It’s their loss – not ours.
David Robertson.
14 Shamrock Street,
Dundee.
Numbers don’t add up for Kez
Sir – Today I read that there is dissatisfaction that Kezia is in “the jungle” and that her agent states there is no need to worry as there are six other MSPs to look after the interest of her constituency in Fife.
I have no worries about Kezia’s sojourn in the jungle but I do worry that we need seven MSPs to look after 273,456 constituents while two MPs can do the same job at Westminster.
A A Bullions.
6 Glencairn Crescent,
Leven.
Writer unaware of the facts
Sir – Graeme Finnie denies that the Tories had anything to do with “the scrapping of VAT on the Scottish Police and Fire Service” in the budget but claims it was because of SNP pressure (letters November 24)
Mr Finnie may not be aware of the actual facts or perhaps chooses to ignore them since it shows up the SNP’s lack of understanding.
The SNP-dominated Scottish Government made the decision to make Scotland’s police and fire services national rather than leave them as regional bodies which were able to reclaim VAT.
Alex Salmond was told on numerous occasions in 2012, by both Westminster and HM Revenue & Customs, that these services would then become ineligible for VAT refunds but the SNP hatred of Westminster and “we know better” attitude saw them press on regardless.
The change in the law from April 6 2018 means that these services will be able to claim back VAT from that date but not the £185 million already lost.
A fine mess you got us into Alex.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
Chinatown in the capital
Sir, – I was astounded to discover that, despite many of the vendors adopting German and Scottish themes, much of the largely tawdry merchandise on display in Edinburgh’s Christmas Markets actually comes from China.
Why not go the whole hog and have a real Chinese Market next year?
I’m sure that Edinburgh councillors and council officials would be prepared to undertake fact finding missions to the Far East if they thought that this would enable the city to recruit appropriate traders.
Also, no doubt Edinburgh Zoo would be prepared to lend out their panda if it would be seen as adding verisimilitude to such an event.
John Eoin Douglas.
7 Spey Terrace,
Edinburgh.
Must have missed EU poll
Sir – On numerous occasions I have heard various SNP politicians say Scotland voted to stay in the European Union.
It appears to be an increasingly common argument.
Could one of your contributors perhaps be good enough to let me know when the “Scottish” European referendum took place?
I took part in the UK European referendum but am so annoyed to have missed the Scottish one.
Mike Rogalski.
82 Feus Rd,
Perth.
