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September 16: Has over-optimism infected Courier writers?

September 16: Has over-optimism infected Courier writers?

Today’s letters to The Courier.

Sir, Optimism certainly reigned in Wednesday’s Courier columns.

We had your motoring correspondent saying a car ”with its price range stretching upwards of £30,000” wasn’t for those ”who aren’t fairly well-heeled.”

Fairly well-heeled? Even without a recession most people would still not be within even imagining distance of buying a car at that price.

Then we had Jim Leishman imploring us to ”ditch the doom and gloom surrounding Scottish football.”

Because of his long connection with Dunfermline Athletic, Jim is obviously biased. But he should realise what has suddenly struck Scottish football is long overdue realism, not the pessimism he alleges.

When you lose an average 100,000 supporters a season over five seasons, when one of our two big clubs looks to be in serious financial trouble and the other was saved from similar problems not that long ago; when the on-field image is of far too many players of average ability from other countries wearing the colours and far too few home-grown greats, it’s little wonder the attraction is waning.

Add to that admission prices being too high to feed exorbitant wages and TV not rating the Scottish game highly enough to pay really big money for, and realism had to set in Jim.

There is little doubt, as he claims, that a few green shoots are appearing in the emergence of some home-grown talent. We always lost great players to clubs elsewhere, but only after we’d had a few seasons of their talent on show here.

Good luck to those trying to resurrect the senior game in Scotland. But, realistically, they have one heck of a job.

Ian Wheeler.Springfield,Fife.

Green energy is for long term

Sir, Neil Craig is being disingenuous in his letter of September 14. The drive towards renewable energy has inevitably had an impact on people’s energy bills but by far the greatest impact has been from the huge rise in the costs of importing fossil fuels. These will continue to rise as resources dwindle while demand from emergent economies rises.

These same pressures on cost apply to nuclear plants. The uranium needed to power these ”money pits” is fast disappearing with no feasible alternative sources. Coupled to this is the fact the UK has no domestic sources so we will always be dependent on being able to acquire foreign material in an ever more competitive market.

If we want to secure our energy supply in the long term, we need to invest in domestic renewables now. As these come on-line, the threat to energy supply diminishes.

Yes, there needs to be an initial investment but in the long term it is in our best interests.

Stuart Allan.8 Nelson Street,Dundee.

Union is a huge success story

Sir, In answer to Alex Orr (letters, September 13), the case for Scotland remaining in the UK is so strong that it is all too often taken for granted.

We live on one island with a common language, a shared history and a common political culture. We have had 265 years of internal peace on this island. The burden of proof is very much on the shoulders of anyone who wants to separate Scotland from England and Wales.

The Union between Scotland and England has been a tremendous success morally, intellectually and economically. For example, our parliament in Westminster abolished slavery without a civil war and went on to outlaw the slave trade throughout the world.

This island has produced more of the greatest thinkers than anywhere else on the planet, including Germany and Greece. Our industrial revolution was the first achieved, incidentally, without foreign aid or advisors.

In addition, Scotland and the Scots have done disproportionately well out of the Union. To take but one example, five of the 21 prime ministers since 1900 were Scots by birth. Several others had strong Scottish connections a Scottish father, a Scottish mother or being a Scottish earl.

What has gone wrong has been the adoption of socialist and Keynesian economics, defeatism and the politics of grievance, on a class or ethnic basis.

All of this can and eventually will be put right, but not by separation.

Otto Inglis.Ansonhill,Crossgates.

Language is not appropriate

Sir, It has been interesting to read the increasingly homophobic rants from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Scotland in recent days and the reaction by our political leaders.

Had similar language and tone to that used to disparage gays been invoked to attack Catholics, it is certain that politicians would have been quick to denounce such bigotry, and with the Catholic hierarchy playing the sectarian victim card for all its worth. Yet politicians remain silent on the Church’s bigotry, and when pressed for a reaction are even apologetic for the Church’s position.

As we have seen yet again, the Catholic Church is quick to demand there be no discrimination or prejudice served upon it on religious grounds, yet simultaneously demand on the same religious basis the right to discriminate against, and serve up prejudice upon others, with impunity.

Why do our MSPs appear to condone this? Why is one form of bigotry acceptable and another not?

Alistair McBay.Lawmuirview,Methven.

Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.