Today our correspondents discuss crime statistics, respect for authority, the Labour Party’s leadership contest, and the current poor state of Scottish senior football.
No evidence to support crime-wave theory Sir, I wonder if your correspondent George K. McMillan (August 30) knows that recorded crime in Scotland is at a 30-year low and that fear of crime in Scotland has been steadily decreasing over the last seven years.
If this decline in both real and perceived crime is due to a change in sentencing, then perhaps Mr McMillan should be arguing for more leniency in the courts instead of demanding a more resolute and firm response.
Malcolm McCandless.40 Muirfield Crescent,Dundee.
Authority must be respected
Sir, In his latest diatribe, George K. McMillan complains about lenient sentences. He concludes by stating that, “offenders respect only one thing, a resolute and firm authority”.
Would this be the same George K. McMillan who stated in this very newspaper that he had been caught speeding not once, but twice in a matter of weeks?
That being the case, it would appear that Mr McMillan has little or no respect for authority except, that is, when it refers to others and not him.
Had a resolute authority dealt more severely with Mr McMillan in the first instance, then perhaps he would not have become a repeat offender.
Stephen Windsor.The Holdings,Kinfauns.
Tricky path for Labour to travel
Sir, Why has the Labour leadership campaign been so uninspiring?
I think a number of factors have come together to turn the public right off.
Firstly, there is something unreal about watching two brothers supposedly locked in combat about who is best placed to front for their party.
It is one thing for them to be partners in government. It is another to believe that they are really as strong rivals as they make out.
Secondly, David Miliband more or less arranged for the nomination of his left-wing opponent, Diane Abbott, supposedly on the basis that this would give Labour members a real choice.
Nobody is really fooled by this. He nominated her either because she thought she had little or no chance of winning, or that her vote might divide the other candidates and make his victory more decisive.
Either way, all this has meant that the public and even the party faithful find it difficult to take the contest seriously.
This is a pity because, for once in a leadership election, the outcome is by no means certain.
The last four Labour leaders Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, John Smith, Neil Kinnock were almost certain winners before the campaigns even began.
This time there does seem to be a dilemma about the way forward. The public will not wear a return to demands for full-scale public ownership and higher taxation for ends that are by no means certain.
Equally, there seems to be some doubt about the New Labour policies that brought Tony Blair so much success. One thing is certain, the new leader must show he or she can embrace change, control government expenditure fairly and foster that degree of public and private partnership- that is the way to economic recovery.
Bob Taylor.24 Shiel Court,Glenrothes.
Scotland needs talent
Sir, After a week in which Scotland was shamed by the results in European football competitions, the country’s football managers, or at least some of them, had their say about improving the game north of the border.
More money, better facilities it was all there.
It is blindingly obvious that Scottish clubs cannot begin to compete financially with those in England and elsewhere in Europe for top talent. So the answer is to concentrate on bringing Scottish youngsters to the club and coaching them to standards achieved in, for instance, Holland.
We have the facilities in many places, not least at Celtic and Rangers. But what have they been doing recently? Signing players from all over the globe who are not at the top of their profession, or they could not have afforded them.
Which begs the question why don’t they and others have at least six or seven first-team regulars of true quality brought through from the much-touted academies?
It is difficult to name even a handful who have taken that route at Ibrox, Celtic Park or almost all other clubs players of the quality to make we old-timers recall Jimmy Johnstone, Davie Cooper, Bobby Murdoch, Jim Baxter, Dave Mackay, Pat Stanton and so on.
So have we to look more closely at the coaches and managers charged with bringing them on to a level where our teams can, with a core of Scottish talent, compete in Europe ?Managers like Jock Stein, Jim McLean, Alex Ferguson and Jock Wallace did it.
I know the game has moved on, but surely there is raw talent in Scotland just needing to be properly coached to have us, if not back to the glory days, at least not being a laughing stock.
Ian Wheeler.Springfield,Cupar.
A nation of under-achievers
Sir, I have never had a great interest in football, and any interest I do have has been more directed to our performance internationally.
It is widely acknowledged that there is something sadly wrong with Scottish football and funding seems to have been identified as the root cause.
Whatever the reason, the recent simultaneous crashing out from the Europa League of Dundee United, Celtic and Motherwell has raised a question which has been in my mind for many years. How can a nation which eats, sleeps and breathes football be so bad at it?
Roy R. Russell.1c Smithy Road,Balmullo.
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