Madam, – Again there is a to do about climate change and air travel tax etc, with protesters blocking roads and obstructing city centres, demanding and screaming.
What I’m wondering about is the fact the protesters come from far and wide. How do they get to their destination?
With the train?
That seems nice and “clean” but the trains run on electricity, and where does that come from?
Travelling by train is not as “green” as people think.
Electric cars and buses also seem nice and clean, but these vehicles run on energy from huge batteries filled with severe toxic chemicals.
Where do these batteries go when they fail? Where are they dismantled?
Recycling car-batteries is not possible due to the toxicity!
The vehicles have to be recharged with electricity generated by big energy-plants.
These “green” options are not green at all.
If we really have to go green, we will have to go back to the Stone Age and even then we will not be carbon-free, as we will need energy to keep warm.
Don’t get me wrong, I try to do my own bit for the climate.
I use as little plastic as I can, although all fresh products are wrapped in this stuff due to hygiene rules from the EU, making reducing quite difficult.
I sort my refuse, have little to no food waste due to cooking economically and am very food-aware.
Being aware of what you do and how you treat your surroundings helps a lot.
Living aware is a good beginning as going back to the Stone Age is not going to happen.
Rampaging, blocking roads, causing chaos, “demanding” unrealistic changes is not the way forward.
Stop this protesting and tyrannical rage.
Teach children to throw things in bins instead of dumping it in the streets or in nature and encourage adults to do the same.
Changing the world starts with your own behaviour.
Maaike Cook.
Cash Feus,
Strathmiglo.
Bottle return plan is a winner
Madam, – The Scottish Government is to be congratulated on its plan to introduce a compulsory deposit scheme for drinks containers.
Whilst there are undoubtedly savings to be made in street cleaning and bin emptying as children scour the place for returnable empties, in these days of high technology, it should also be possible to track scheme usage and dock social security payments to those who make a genuine income from scavenging and tax them.
John Eoin Douglas.
7 Spey Terrace,
Edinburgh.
Lib-dems to gain in EU elections
Madam, – Apparently the SNP are feeling good about the prospect of retaining their two seats in the forthcoming European elections (assuming they take place) and even taking a third, from the Tories.
Are they over optimistic?
True, they’ll likely keep the two they have.
But many No voting remainers are heartily sick of Nicola Sturgeon using our pro-EU votes to attempt to legitimise staging a second independence referendum.
The Lib-dem tradition runs deeply in Scotland and their strong pro-EU stance was rewarded in recent local elections elsewhere in the UK.
Could we see the Lib-dems picking up a seat in the EU elections rather than a third going to the Nationalists?
Martin Redfern.
Woodcroft Road,
Edinburgh.
SNP delivering on agenda
Madam, – Regards your correspondent Clark Cross’s latest letter (A State of emergency, Courier, May 7).
Education, health, police; you name it and there is nought but chaos and failure.
It is just a pity the truth of the matter is the complete opposite and Scotland is actually outperforming the other nations of these islands.
Take education for example, over two-thirds of teachers in England say their job has adversely affected their mental health, according to the Educational Support Partnership.
The National Education Union has described the situation as “an epidemic of stress”.
Or when we look at attainment, it has been reported it will take 50 years to close the achievement gap between England’s rich and poor pupils.
If the pace of change remains the same as it has done since 2011, poor pupils in England will not catch up until 2070.
Contrast that to Scotland, where official education figures show standards in reading, writing and numeracy for pupils leaving primary school are all rising and there has been a closing of the attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils in reading and writing at P7.
It must be galling to discover the SNP is moving our country forward, despite a decade of ideologically driven Tory austerity.
Just imagine what she could achieve with the full range of powers available to a small independent country?
Or what of the NHS which Mr Cross believes to be failing so badly?
A recent study of the NHS across these islands – conducted by the less than impartial BBC – confirmed the Scottish NHS was outperforming its English counterpart!
And what of Police Scotland? The Times recently revealed Scotland has more police officers per head than anywhere in the UK outside London.
And the chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank and file police officers in England and Wales, praised the SNP’s support for police in Scotland, who are set to receive a 6.5% pay increase.
He compared that to the “contempt” shown to English and Welsh officers by the UK Government.
I know British unionists wish it were not so, but they currently reside in the best performing nation on these islands.
Maybe a wee “thank you” to the first minister would be in order?
Henry Malcolm.
331 Clepington Road,
Dundee.
Murray Royal fears dismissed
Madam, – Concerns over traffic problems due to new housing at Murray Royal are unwarranted .
In that location under 70% of households are likely to own a car and those who do will not use them all at the same time.
The land is within 20 minutes walking and cycling distance of the city centre where there are tight parking controls, partly aimed at reducing use of cars for the journeys to and from jobs there.
Thus an increase in car movement is likely to be very small and certainly no justification for not using a solidly- built historic building in a very healthy and convenient location which, moreover, would generate around £400,000 yearly in council taxes.
Given the financial situation of Perth and Kinross Council, this is surely of much greater importance to the vast majority of people than a miniscule increase in traffic at Bridgend,
Raymond Ladner.
293 Glasgow Rd,
Perth.
What’s in a name?
Madam, – Firstly we had the meaningless titles of the Duke and Duchess of Wessex, a place which does not exist, then the Duke and Duchess of Forfar.
Now we have Archie, seventh in line to the throne, named after a comic book hero.
Alister Rankin.
93,Whyterose Terrace,
Methil, Leven.
