Sir, I read with rage and incredulity the story in The Courier about William Brown, the decorated soldier who is being unceremoniously dumped from the army he served so well for nine years, and made redundant.
Worse still, they are turfing him and his family out of their army lodgings and onto the streets, with no other accommodation to go to.
Shame on the national and local governments of this nation for the way they treat the people who put their lives on the line for our safety and security, many of whom will have mental and physical scars to last the rest of their lifetime. Shame on the MPs, MSPs and local councillors who will allow this to happen.
Shame, too, on Fife Council, who apparently feel, while they sit in their safe, non-war zone offices free of bullet holes, made that way by the troops of our armed services, that a soldier turned out with his family, from their army home, does not have any priority in the queue for a council house.
I cannot help wondering how the same council would have responded if an Afghan ex-Taliban asylum seeker, seeking to avoid extradition to the United States to stand trial, and with a large family in tow, had appeared on its doorstep?
I’m sure a house, maybe two even if the family were large, would have been made available right away, despite the fact that they had never paid anything in to our social security system and could be considered enemies of the state.
Is this what our once great nation has come to? That we will bend over backwards so that all and sundry from around the world, even our enemies, can have their “human rights” at our expense, but we cannot even find a home for a family who have not only paid their taxes to the nation, but one of them has fought on the front line to keep us all, including our self-serving politicians, safe from enemy harm?
(Captain) Ian F McRae. 17 Broomwell Gardens, Monikie.
Positive outlook in the long term
Sir, The latest Bank of Scotland agricultural report reinforces the issues faced by our farming communities. It points out that the last two years have been particularly difficult due, in part, to bad weather, a rise in tenant farmer rents and a drop in livestock prices.
However, a degree of positivity can be taken from the report as it shows that despite the challenges faced, confidence is high. The importance of confidence cannot be emphasised enough.
Fife farmers contribute enormously to the local economy and know that they need to look to the long term.
It is a tough job and profitability doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right focus, business confidence and investment in machinery, livestock and land, a farmer can ensure a healthy financial future.
I also welcome the report’s findings that the percentage of farms which are profitable remains high. Although down on last year, the fact that there is still money to be made in farming is a good sign in the current economic climate and in some ways shows that agriculture bucks the trend of other industries.
Farming, despite the challenges of late, is still worth investing in. It is still an industry we can be proud of and one which will still be here long after anyone reading this is.
Thankfully, there are still people who take a long-term view of our oldest industry, which, after all, has survived for centuries despite recessions, wars and bad weather.
Alistair Morris. Chief Executive, Pagan Osborne, 12 St Catherine Street, Cupar.
Council putting lives at risk
Sir, Perth and Kinross Council are proposing to put “no parking” restrictions in Scarth Road to allow clear access for local residents. There is not a street in Luncarty or any other town or village where there is clear access for local residents.
My problem with Scarth Road is that there are no footpaths in the street. There are a lot of children and elderly people living in this street and the fact that they will have to come out of their premises right into the paths of oncoming traffic puts them at risk.
Myself and two other residents lodged objections to this proposal. The street will become a race track for drivers and the residents who live in the street will be put at risk every time they try to get out of their gates.
I think the council should be spending taxpayers’ money on repairing pot holes instead of this scheme where they will be putting people’s lives at risk.
L Smith. 6 Scarth Road, Luncarty, Perth.
Local produce
Sir, Following the current panic in relation to horse meat, does anyone actually know the contents/ingredients within each meal that originates in foreign countries, where the food hygiene legislation may be less stringent than our own?
Supermarkets should demand more local produce from their suppliers so that we can have a degree of trust in what we eat. All animals end up in abattoirs and as someone once said: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we would all be vegetarians!”
John McDonald. 14 Rosebery Court, Kirkcaldy.
Leave this loveless marriage
Sir, The motivation of the EU is to stuff Britain as comprehensively as possible. As the only country to have emerged victorious from the Second World War we are the subject of classic resentment among those who were defeated by us, the Germans, or their own inadequate hand.
The future of Europe, as seen by founding EU leaders, has simply been to have Germany as the industrialist and banker, France as the farmer, Spain as the fisherman, Italy as the entertainment, Belgium as the bureaucratic back office and to heck with the rest.
With its financial centre of London, Britain is an additional annoyance to Germany, and the transfer of economic control to Frankfurt has long been on the agenda.
In that objective, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others are annoyed that the Euro, by which they hoped to control Europe has never been more than a currency of convenience and the European Central Bank lacks the power of the Bank of England to create money from thin air.
As members of the EU we are sleeping with the enemy. Now is the time to leave this loveless marriage.
Malcolm Parkin. 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.
East Neuk roads being ignored
Sir, Has Fife Council’s roads department forgotten, yet again, that Fife’s East Neuk exists?
As a regular commuter between the coastal villages, when I feel a bump or have to negotiate a “dub” with care, it is very annoying to know these problems have been reported to the relevant department over the years yet still they remain without solution.
When coming into Crail, on the main road from Anstruther, having to negotiate flooding from adjacent fields and potholes caused by this flooding could result in an accident one day.
Another problem bugging “Crailers” for years is the large puddle that forms at the bottom of Lamont Terrace. It seems this problem recurs, perhaps, because of a collapsed drain? It is often pumped out because the council thinks the drain is blocked.
There also seems to be a problem with flooding at the car park in Pittenweem Town Hall.
I know it’s difficult at this time of year with all the other problems, but could we at least get the East Neuk back on the roads map?
Bob Harper. 63a Pittenweem Road, Anstruther.
Should pay for refreshments
Sir, I applaud the efforts of Councillor Derek Scott in his proposal that the annual £7000 used for the purchasing of cans of juice and food should be cut from Dundee’s council budget. It is beyond belief our salaried councillors get £7000 to have a seemingly limitless supply of refreshments, whilst the rest of us are subject to parting with our own income to purchase such refreshments.
I hope that all the other parties will be supporting this motion to ensure taxpayers’ money is not wasted on items which can easily be paid for by councillors from their own pockets.
Stephen MacSporran. vice-Chairman of Dundee and South Angus Conservatives.
That would really be an anomaly
Sir, Your correspondent, Mr Johnston (February 4), suggests it is an anomaly that he, who lives but was not born in Scotland, will be able to vote in the referendum but his daughter, who was born but does not live in Scotland, will not.
Consider the opposite. I left my native Wales in 1953, and first came to Scotland in 1957.
Leaving aside the Scottish referendum, where I am very grateful to have been offered the chance to vote, though I certainly do not regard it as an entitlement, does Mr Johnston seriously suggest that if it ever came to a referendum in Wales I should be given the chance to vote on the future of a country, and fellow countrymen, I left 60 years ago, but someone whose mother happened to be shopping in Shrewsbury when she went into early labour 50 years ago, but who has lived in Wales ever since, should not be given such a chance?
That would, indeed, be an anomaly!
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.
Leave deer alone
Sir, So, SNH want to cull more deer in order to save the “Natural Environment”. May I suggest that since the environment is about as unnatural as it’s possible to be, they leave the deer alone and cull the turbines.
G Stewart. Springbank, Clayholes, by Carnoustie.