Sir, – I write with reference to your article on Tuesday about people risking their lives by failing to seek help by ignoring symptoms of a heart attack and the advice of the British Heart Foundation.
As someone who has done this, take my advice and get help as soon as possible – your life depends on it.
About eight years ago when in my late ’60s, about the same age as my father when he died of a heart attack, I had mine.
For years I had never gone near the doctor and had just put up with ailments over the years.
After some particular strenuous lifting one day I experienced a very sharp pain in my shoulder blades.
But I carried on thinking I had just pulled a muscle.
To cut a long story short, I went to my GP, who for about nine months treated me for a pulled muscle in my shoulder.
He never during my visits suggested I might have a heart problem and I never dreamt I had.
However, I think he eventually got fed up with me and gave me the name of a local chiropractor and said I should go to him for treatment.
The day after my visit to the chiropractor I still had the pain, then suddenly I knew what pain was really like.
I have never experienced anything like it and hope never to again.
I managed to get into the house and lay on the bed cursing and swearing with the pain.
After a while I realised that I was having a massive heart attack and got my wife to call an ambulance.
Six weeks later, after a long period in the ICU at Ninewells and Edinburgh, I had a quadruple heart bypass.
It took about a year after that before I got back to near normal fitness.
The moral of the tale is: know the symptoms and don’t expect your GP to be a heart specialist.
If you need to ask for a second opinion, remember any persistent sharp pain in the upper body can be angina – the first sign that you have a problem.
Finally, if you do realise you are having a heart attack do not panic, there is nothing you can do about it, but if you stay calm you will have more chance of survival.
Bill Crowe.
80 Castle Street,
Montrose.
Dundee United in a sorry state
Sir, – It is a couple of years short of a half-century since I first set foot in Tannadice and have been a supporter ever since.
On Saturday, for the very first time ever, I left the ground before the final whistle unable to witness the latest fiasco and the depths to which our beloved United had plunged.
As I exited the stadium the boos marking the end of the game echoed the frustration of loyal fans who have given so much for so little return.
The responsibility for this state of affairs must rest with our club’s board of directors led by a chairman whose total obsession with the bottom line has led to where we are now.
A few months ago he invited plaudits from all when he announced the club was debt free but we are now bearing the cost of his selling on our best assets without giving thought to adequate replacements.
Taking account of the club management, the team management and the present team players, I have difficulty completing the counting on the fingers of one hand those worth keeping.
In football finances you cannot have a strong balance sheet without a strong team on the park, or off it for that matter.
This fundamental has surely struck home as the board contemplates the swathes of empty seats around the ground next season.
However, I shall still be there as usual paying way over the odds for a total half-time pie. But I fear the Tannadice catering may be the least of our worries.
Fred Barbour.
Millgate,
Cupar.
Lack of fair play in football
Sir, – Firstly being a staunch Dundee supporter, please let me stress that although extremely upset at my team’s failure to gain a top six finish I am, however, equally sad that Dundee United may be lost to the top division next season.
My team were seven years in the doldrums without any consolation of a play-off spot.
It was the only league on the planet, until Dundee won that division, that never had a second-team play-off.
As a youngster in the 1960s, my good Arab pal Jimmy Martin and I regularly visited Dens/Tannadice on a Friday evening to watch the reserves with an average 3,000 in attendance depending on who was at home the forthcoming Saturday.
However, I will be lost to the next season because of cheating players and absolutely hopeless officials.
When players are poor they get replaced but who subs the referees?
There is a fourth official and seemingly a mentor at each game in the stand so why when thousands within the stadium can see what’s going on they can’t?
Mark S. Ritchie.
26 James Street,
Carnoustie.
Genie may be out of tax bottle
Sir, – For centuries social scientists and economists have heeded the power of the law of unintended consequences which states that actions of people – and especially of government – always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. For just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it.
With this in mind it occurred to me that the decision by David Cameron and all the political leaders to divulge their private tax affairs may lead to unintended consequences not only for themselves but also for the rest of us.
For example, will we now judge leaders on their tax bills?
Mr Cameron’s family is financially successful, which some may think a good thing and some may construe as bad, and base their concept of his leadership on this alone.
In contrast Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie, who by his own admission says his is dull, may also be conceding his political abilities are also rather dull.
Other politicians, so far, have kept their head below the parapet, leading to possible suspicions about their financial affairs and motives in politics if they don’t disclose.
Ms Sturgeon’s salary may make some electors wonder if she really can understand the effects of austerity and poverty from her standpoint.
For those of us sitting safely in the smug seats, Cameron’s knee-jerk reaction and its effect on political colleagues may be good entertainment but what if there’s a relentless push to bring every citizen into public scrutiny of their tax affairs? This already occurs in Norway and Sweden and has been the case for over 100 years.
I’ve no idea what effect the system has in Norway and Sweden but with instant access to data on the internet is there a likelihood of unintended consequences?
Having precise details of individual finances may leave people vulnerable to scams, fraud, price fixing by services, snooping by employers and neighbours and an intrusion into private affairs by almost anyone where previously it was the preserve of yourself, your bank and accountant.
Iain G Richmond.
Guildy House,
Monikie.
Clear tax laws are needed
Sir, – The Panama Papers have ignited a debate about the difference between avoid and evade.
The dictionary will give several definitions but one word covers both – dodge.
The revelations serve to highlight that cheating the taxman has been going on for generations.
For anyone in or out of government to claim moral high ground by pointing out that other people did nothing to change the situation, when they had the chance, is a bit much.
If we are going to indulge in political point scoring we should look no further than the party which has enjoyed more years of power at Westminster than the rest.
That said, there is a consensus among experts that it is the current laws that allow people to cheat the Exchequer and the two main parties are guilty of doing nothing to bring about the real changes needed to amend legislation.
The present Government has been making loud noises about all it has done to ensure that people pay their fair share of tax but in reality it amounts to no more than window dressing.
What is needed now is new legislation which states that, without exception, it is illegal to indulge in any practice to cheat the taxman.
Allan MacDougall.
37 Forth Park,
Bridge of Allan.
Returns don’t tell whole story
Sir, – What is the point of publishing tax returns? If a politician has £20 million in a tax haven and leaves the interest to build up it will not appear in his tax return. If Jeremy Corbin has £100,000 in Isas it will not appear in his tax return.
RJ Soutar.
Camperdown Street,
Dundee.
Rewarding the reckless
Sir, – I really do not know how our nation’s benefit system operates.
Single mothers, I believe, receive child benefit, perhaps also housing benefit and other benefits about which I know nothing.
I believe the Child Support Agency is in some disarray with vast numbers of payment orders issued to fathers which are left unpaid and with little hope of recovery.
It seems to me that any single mother looking for benefit from the state should be asked to produce a birth certificate showing the names of father and mother before any child benefit is payable.
This would at least establish responsibility of those who should, in the first instance, maintain the child and provide the authorities with a record of both parents.
Why do taxpayers have to pay for reckless behaviour?
AA Bullions.
6 Glencairn Crescent,
Leven.
