Saturday’s letters column focuses on an example of good manners, the costs borne by motorists, university funding, the pill, and healthcare in Rannoch.
Courtesy restored my faith in youth
Sir,-My wife and I boarded a bus at Broxden service station, Perth, for Aberdeen via Dundee.
When we got on, we found only single seats were available.
We went to sit on two seats where we would have been opposite each other but a young lad in his teens insisted that he move and that we sit together.
Well done, young man. More faith restored in the young. Or should I congratulate his parents on a good job, bringing up a very thoughtful young man?
Bob Martin.89 Raeburn Park,Perth.
Drivers treated as cash cows
Sir,-Your report (June 7) that Dundee’s revenue from on and off-street parking for last year was £2.67 million and was short of the city’s budget estimate by 10%, revealed what every motorist knows that they are seen as an easy target, cash cows.
For many motorists, owning a car is a necessity rather than a luxury and, with the government already receiving billions of pounds from car and fuel tax, the motorist has every right to believe they are being short-changed, or to put it more bluntly, robbed.
The revenue is never fully spent on roads as it was supposed to be but used by government for other things.
The last two lines of the report are ominous. An “appropriate action” agreed to address the issues raised, or to put it another way motorists look out.
R. H. L. Mulherron.28 Cowgate,Tayport.
Do not repeat English mistakes
Sir,-The latest noises from the Westminster Government regarding student fees are very unwelcome.
Students are graduating into a job market that has been depleted by a combination of politicians and bankers and are already leaving university with higher debt than ever before.
If fees go up any further, this will only serve to punish a whole generation of prospective students.
During the debate about top-up fees, a number of us warned about the slippery slope that we were potentially going down and, unfortunately, it looks like we have been vindicated.
Although any changes will not have any direct impact on Scotland, it is also clear that the Scottish Government are going to be making cuts to budgets in the years ahead.
We have an excellent education system and we need to ensure that we keep it that way and don’t replicate the potentially very damaging cuts that are going to be implemented south of the border.Andrew Smith.President,Dundee University Students’ Association.
Pill assists with population control
Sir,-What nonsense Frank Henderson writes (June 10) about the contraceptive pill.
Perhaps he’d like to return to the Victorian era when single mothers handed their infants over to baby farms?
In that golden pill-free era, high infant mortality, poverty, malnutrition and neglect were commonplace, along with child labour, abuse and prostitution.
Women were baby-making machines kept in drudgery and ill-health by being forced to have more children than they could support. It is simplistic to link increased divorce and abortion to the pill, when ready availability, and more relaxed attitudes, are the primary reasons.
Women need no longer suffer miserable marriages or compulsory pregnancies. With overpopulation threatening the planet, contraception is essential and is one of the 20th century’s greatest achievements.(Dr) Stephen Moreton.33 Marina Avenue,Warrington.
Rannoch backs health campaign
Sir,-Your correspondent (Negativity in Rannoch, June 8) writes about the out-of-hours issue and asks who are the “we” the activists keep referring to.
There is a simple answer. In a survey carried out for NHS Tayside by the Centre for Rural Health between June and September last year, 78% of all respondents said they believed the provision of OOH cover for emergency healthcare situations is the most important problem the community have to deal with and 73% believed GPs from the local practice should be available 24/7 in case of a health emergency.
Your correspondent ironically suggests that the problem has been created by sick people from some far-flung planet. But no. According to the survey, 73% of respondents had previously worked or currently work in the area and 53% had lived here for more than 20 years.
The problem has not been invented by aliens but has been brought about by the withdrawal of a valued local service four years ago and by the refusal of the Tayside Health Board to restore it.
Sadly, the Scottish Government has refused to intervene. In these circumstances, the petition to the Court of Session in Edinburgh represents a sensible and moderate course of action.Dick Barbor-Might.Wester Killichonan,Rannoch.