Madam, – “20 years ago, I think the Scottish Parliament was ahead of Westminster…now I think Westminster at the very least has caught up”.
I was so amused by Conservative Scottish Secretary David Mundell’s comments (Holyrood star has lost its sparkle, claims Mundell, Courier, April 30) that I almost choked on my porridge!
For months the nation has watched Westminster, aghast, as the full horror of this defunct museum of democracy trying to cope with its self imposed burden of Brexit has been displayed live on TV, in all its mediaeval malfunction.
It is a laughing stock around the world, the ‘mother of parliaments’ has become a mockery, twisting this way and that, but only sinking further into the mire of its own making, possibly never to re-emerge.
And this is disregarding the sexual harassment scandal, or cash for questions, or parliamentary expenses, among many others over the years.
It has taken a special kind of person to fulfill the position of Scottish Secretary in recent years.
At the time of his appointment Mr Mundell was actually the only Conservative MP in Scotland, so maybe not a great honour.
He represents a party which has not had a majority in Scotland for 60 years, a government which Scotland has firmly rejected, is implementing a Brexit policy for which Scotland did not vote and which has pursued policies of cruel austerity which most people in Scotland abhor.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
We all know the reality, but I will leave my conclusion to Anne Widdecombe, former Minister in John Major’s Tory government, who said recently, and she would know, that this is “the worst Parliament since Oliver Cromwell”.
Les Mackay.
5 Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
Political bar set low for Tories
Madam, – Following the recent SNP conference, under the headline “Sturgeon puts economy at heart of indyref,” one newspaper listed what they called the 7 “Key Takeaways”.
It also quoted the First Minister as saying that the SNP need to show voters “what is possible with the economic powers of independence”
The items listed are; help for first time buyers, a household guide to Independence, a social justice and fairness commission, extra money for families with kids starting school and nursery, regulation for AirBNBs, a climate change emergency declaration and a consultation on children’s rights.
Wow! That’ll have investors and entrepreneurs raring to go.
Although laudable in principle, most of the seven require either increased taxation or increased borrowing, and with no obvious medium-term boost to the economy.
They should have been called the seven giveaways.
However, on reflection ‘takeaway’ may be appropriate in that when you’re hungry but can’t decide what to cook, you go for a takeaway as an easy option.
These often have little nutritional value, leaving you bloated and wishing you hadn’t.
If this is the best the governing party can do with the powers they already have, it does not inspire me to vote for them to have more.
Labour’s conference was not exactly brimming with ideas either.
Let’s see what Ruth Davidson and her party can come up with at the end of the week. The bar is set low.
Mark Openshaw.
42 Earlswells Road,
Cults.
Getting off your bahookie
Madam, – I am perplexed as to why people get so upset at the thought of another referendum on independence.
What is the big deal? All you are being asked to do is put an X on a piece of paper.
But people say we just did that two years ago for Brexit, then two years before that for Indyref, we’re fed up with it.
Personally I don’t think there are enough referendums.
I do not find it a great difficulty to go down and vote. As the man says on the TV advery, “Get off yer bahookie”.
Robert Donald.
Denhead Farm,
Ceres.
Let jobseekers pick the berries
Madam, – I refer to the article by Jamie Buchan (Let jobless pick fruit, say worried farners, Courier, April 29) and agree with the comments made by Meg Marshall.
When I first moved into this area almost every single field, large garden or spare pocket of ground was cultivated for raspberries.
It was the norm for families to spend the school holidays picking the fruit to earn a wee bit of pocket money to spend on small luxuries.
Indeed old double decked buses used to scour the towns and the cities picking up and dropping off the workers.
It is only recently with the tightening up of health and safety regulations that farmers have begun to rely upon overseas labour, and in fact there is a belief amongst locals that the farmers don’t really want to take on local workers but prefer to use migrant labour.
Because of the serious threat to one of our most important industries, there is a very strong argument not to suspend the benefits of the unemployed should they choose to come to the rescue of our farmers.
This isn’t simply about giving them something for nothing, it is more about weighing up the balance in favour of the common good.
A good number of years ago when my wife was between jobs she decided to pick raspberries on a local farm. As I recall it rained almost non stop that year, the result being that harvesting was dictated by the nature of the weather.
Naturally she made contact with the people from the Department of Employment who in return sent her out a batch of forms to complete.
Clearly those forms had never been designed for soft fruit pickers and totally failed to understand all that was involved.
One of the many questions asked was: “When did you find out that you were required for work that day?”
My wife’s answer was: “When I drew back the curtains and saw that it was not pouring with rain.”
That apparently wasn’t good enough because typically true to form another batch of forms came promptly through the post.
So there you have it, there are I’m sure a good number of local people who might be prepared to rise early, make themselves a packed lunch and brave the weather.
Once out on the field I am sure that they will enjoy the fun, the thrill and the banter which all made up “picking berries”.
Thomas MacFarlane.
Carey Mill, Dunsinnan Road, Wolfhill.
False narrative over fracking
Madam, – Natascha Engel, whose role as Commissioner for Shale Gas was to liaise between the government, scientists, the industry and residents near potential fracking sites has resigned from her job after only six months.
In a strongly worded resignation letter she said that eco activists had been “highly successful” in persuading ministers to curb fracking.
In January 2017 the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) condemned Friends of the Earth (FoE) for making “misleading” claims about fracking.
ASA warned FoE never to repeat these, or similar allegations or face court proceedings.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
