Today’s correspondents praise the people of Highland Perthshire, urge a VAT cut for the construction industry, bemoan Gordon Brown’s legacy and warn of telephone con men.
Etape cycle race could lead to tourism boom
Sir,-I would like to find some way to express my gratitude to the people of Highland Perthshire for sacrificing a morning’s access to their roads during the Etape Caledonia.
Their encouragement and enthusiasm made such a difference to us cyclists.
We were made to feel welcome all round the area. There was a truly carnival atmosphere all weekend.
The area has the opportunity to become a world-class destination for cyclists.
I will be back to spend more time and money in your area both next year and during the intervening months with my family.
Elaine Walls.6 McNabb Street,Dollar.
Give builders VAT break
Sir,-The construction sector has campaigned long and hard for VAT in this area to be cut to 5%.
A major petition on the Number 10 website, launched by building firm Rok, is due to close on June 3 and has already collected thousands of signatures. With the emergency UK budget now confirmed for June 22 and mounting speculation that the standard rate of VAT will rise to 20%, the case for a differential on VAT charged for building maintenance and repair works has never been stronger.
A targeted VAT cut would give a major shot in the arm to the construction sector, which has suffered significantly from the economic downturn.
It would encourage much greater investment towards greening Scotland’s 2.3 million homes and many other buildings up and down the country.
At the same time, it would help to equip thousands of young construction workers with valuable green skills.
Michael Levack.Scottish Building Federation,4 Crichton’s Close,Edinburgh.
Woeful legacy from Labour
Sir,-Your columnist J. J. Marshall is to be congratulated for shedding some light (May 12) on Gordon Brown’s years in high office.
We were repeatedly lectured by Mr Brown on his golden 40% rule, how he was paying off the national debt and how it was prudent to sell off 375 tonnes of our gold reserves at the bottom of the market.
In 1998, by sacking Frank Field, the first-class work and pensions minister, he then embarked on grooming the feckless, lazy and workshy to vote Labour and receive unearned benefit.
We were told that the Lisbon Treaty was not actually a treaty and that although we had a huge fiscal deficit due to “investment” not borrowing, we were best placed to recover from recession.
Our armed forces were neglected and our infrastructure decayed with the exception of schools and hospitals which, under PFI, still have to be paid for.
We were assured that immigration was not out of control. In some parts of Britain, English is neither spoken nor understood.
At the end of 13 years of fiscal incompetence and enormous debt, we don’t have one new power station or even a dual carriageway to Inverness. History will be the judge of Gordon Brown’s tenure in government, not J. J. Marshall, people like me or the 41% who, unbelievably, voted Labour in Scotland.
Michael C. Smith.Threapmuir Farm,Cleish,Kinross.
Strange Lib-Dem silence
Sir,-The veteran, long-serving MP for North-East Fife, Sir Menzies Campbell, has been unusually silent about his party’s elevation to power, courtesy of the Conservative Party.
They have attained a position unlikely to be achieved at the ballot box.
However, the 17,763 people who voted for Sir Menzies and did not envisage or, indeed, would not agree to such a marriage, are entitled to know his views.
R. H. L. Mulheron.28 Cowgate,Tayport.
Selective quotations
Sir,-Alan Hinnrichs, in his attack on Norman Allan’s defence of the church, selects his so-called evidence solely from the Old Testament, Moses, King David, and the Book of Numbers (May 15).
Has it not occurred yet to Mr Hinnrichs that two millennia ago, a sea-change took place in religion with the birth of Jesus?
I challenge him to find anything in the teachings of Jesus Christ to support his anti-Christian arguments.
Norman Allan was right to blame many of society’s problems today on the waning influence of the church.
Mankind has produced no higher set of principles than those to be found in the New Testament. Living our lives according to those rules would solve many of modern society’s problems.
Many of our young generation have no church connection and no opportunity to learn the Christian way of living. More’s the pity.
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Road,Perth.
Beware of telephone con
Sir,-I have just had a telephone call, where a voice of mid-eastern origin told me it was my lucky day. My bank had decided to refund all charges and I was due to receive around £700. I have more than one bank account, so I asked which bank he was referring to.There was a momentary pause – then he answered, Barclays. I do not have a Barclays account and said so. The caller laughed and said, “My mistake, of course I meant Lloyds”.
I was becoming suspicious and asked why he was calling me and what he wanted. He hung up.
Had he been luckier with his choice of bank, or I had just woken up, he might well have persuaded me to give my bank details so that he could arrange a refund.
The crooks are becoming craftier by the day.
Bill McKenzie.48 Fintry Place,Broughty Ferry.