Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – So Dunfermline has been proposed by its MSP as the ideal candidate to be the home of the Year of Homecoming 2014.
May I suggest that the Arbroath MSP Graeme Dey puts forward Arbroath as the most suitable venue? After all, the Declaration of Arbroath along with Arbroath Abbey would be a fitting venue for such an event.
Fiona Hyslop herself thought it was excellent as she took and presented a special copy of The Declaration on her recent visit to America.
The Declaration of Arbroath is looked upon as being the birth of democracy in Scotland, and perhaps even further afield, and responsible for the basis of the American Declaration of Independence.
Americans will make up the majority of visitors to The Homecoming, so what better connection do you need?
My only concern is the part played, or in this case not played, by Angus Council. They make a big thing of their Tartan Week, but only allocate a budget of £16,000 for this, with £8,000+ of that set aside for their Tartan Day Dinner at the Golf Hotel in Carnoustie.
Some of the remaining amount goes to the company organising the event. Angus Council only carry out the marketing for their Tartan Week and leave the organisation of the various events to the good auspices of others.
Compare this to the effort, involvement and budget allocated by Fife Council when they hold their annual Bruce Festival.
Come on Angus Council, show you really care and allocate a budget with council effort and involvement worthy of The Declaration of Arbroath and its Abbey.
Harry Ritchie.Beechwood,Barry.
Make Rosyth navy base
Sir, – I was amazed to see Mr Salmond had chosen Faslane as the base for any future Scots Navy.
The assets we may wish to defend are around the Shetlands and in the North Sea, so why select a base in the central west?
Faslane-based vessels would require a one- to two-day trip to get to where they are needed, depending upon the conditions in the Pentland Firth.
As for facilities, Faslane only has a massive, covered dry dock which is not needed for the envisioned future navy plus being expensive to operate.
The geographic solution would be to resurrect Scapa Flow or Invergordon but economically impossible.
The obvious solution is to make Rosyth the home base. It has dry docks more suitable, existing infrastructure to support surface vessels including, most importantly, an experienced workforce.
A quick look at an atlas shows Rosyth is closer to where these vessels need to be than Faslane. Lease Faslane to England for its soon to be obsolete Trident boats and base our navy in Rosyth.
Eric Swinney.(ex-RN HMS Lochinvar based)Lafayette, Louisiana.
Unnecessary bureaucracy
Sir, – I refer to the letter from Donald Gatt (February 19), asking about what an independent Scotland would do with the DVLA and BBC.
Simple – add 1p to a litre of petrol and eliminate an unnecessary bureaucracy (those driving more, pay more) and abolish the anachronistic BBC.
And let’s not stop there.
What about reducing corporation tax and petroleum revenue tax to create jobs; eliminating air passenger duty to attract tourists; streamlining the public sector; in fact where would you stop?
The fundamental independence issue is over Scotland having a greater say in our own affairs and taking more fiscal responsibility and accountability.
My only question – independent in Europe?
K. Lees.110 Camphill Road,Dundee.
How does he explain deficit?
Sir, – In his letter (January 20) Frank Kenneth invites Jenny Hjul, with whom he disagrees, to look at the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures which he says supports his claim that Scotland is “providing a greater financial contribution than she currently receives”.
I decided to have a look at the GERS report and found that the data clearly showed that the total expenditure by all public institutions for the benefit of Scotland during the latest published financial year (2009/10) was £62.1 billion, whilst total revenue, including Scotland’s geographic share of North Sea revenue, was £48.1 billion.
By my calculations this translates into a deficit of £14 billion.
Perhaps Mr Kenneth can explain to readers how this substantiates his claim that we are providing a greater financial contribution than we receive?
G. M. Lindsay.Whinfield Gardens,Kinross.
Talk sense
Sir, – Alex Salmond wants an armoured brigade. Exactly against whom does he think it would be used?
Can we have a sensible discussion of the defence requirements, or lack of them, of an independent, non-aligned Scotland?
George Hayton.Lib Dem Group Leader,Perth & Kinross Council.
Packed church
Sir, – Thank you for your unbiased article about The Rev Mike Erskine, who has been much maligned in the press recently.
Alyth Parish Church was packed on Sunday January 22, and we all enjoyed his excellent sermon (as the overwhelming vote confirmed).
There was a large number of his former parishioners, from Crail and Kingsbarns, in our church, supporting him; and they told us that they had fought hard to keep him as their minister.
“Our loss is your gain” was their phrase.
Mrs Joy Dewar.9 Commercial Street,Alyth, Blairgowrie.
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.