Sir, The Scottish Government has committed itself to dual the full length of the A9.
I am not convinced this is the best use of limited public resources.
The A9 is the longest road in Scotland and, therefore, it unfortunately has a lot of accidents. But it is not the road in Scotland with the highest number of accidents per mile, although you might think so from reading many contributors to The Courier.
Because it serves the Highlands, the level of traffic varies considerably from season to season but I have not seen any evidence to show it is the single carriageway in Scotland with the highest volume of traffic over the year.
All the works associated with dualling the A9 will cause much environmental intrusion and a completed dual carriageway road would be much more intrusive than the existing sections of single carriageway.
Robert Potter, Menzieshill Road, Dundee.
Why couldn’t we make our own steel?
Sir, How often we see Alex Salmond trying in great haste to score political points while shooting himself in the foot.
Following the naming ceremony of the HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth Dockyard, the First Minister gave a television interview positioned in front of the massive warship and in his eagerness to boost his ego, he mentioned the Rosyth facility and its ability to continue to build ships in an independent country.
However, he was careful in saying ships, not Royal Navy/UK warships.
He went on to say “David Cameron should glance across the North Sea to Norway which has built 100 ships in the past year at 36 shipyards”, inferring that Scotland, a nation roughly the same size as Norway, has the skills to do the same.
However, if, during that interview, Alex Salmond had taken his own advice and “glanced across his own shoulder” as he stood in the dockyard, he would have seen the huge stockpiles of Chinese-made steel bridge sections waiting to be lifted to form the new Forth crossing.
Scotland has a long history in engineering and many will know the same trades and skills are utilised to cut and weld metal, irrespective of the finished product being a ship, an oil rig or a bridge.
So is it not a national disgrace that the SNP was not able to secure Scottish jobs? Weekly wages would have been created if that bridge steel had been fabricated in Scotland, rather than Shanghai.
Colin Cookson, Glenrothes.
Landowners should give a little back
Sir, Now that Scottish landowners are funding the No campaign, the SNP government should reintroduce the sporting rates for salmon fishing and shooting. The sporting rates, before they were abolished by the Tory government in 1995, ensured landowners contributed towards funding rural schools, as they had done for centuries.
Since 1995 the value of shooting and fishing has risen dramatically but Scottish landowners make no contribution towards paying for the education of Scottish children in rural schools.
The Yes campaign would receive a massive boost if the SNP ensured Scottish landowners contributed towards the education of our children by bringing back sporting rates.
Jim Stewart, Oxgangs Avenue, Edinburgh.
No campaign just negative about Scots
Sir, We all know the No campaign has stated no to this, no to that in fact they have said no to everything.
In their No world they have said an independent Scotland will be worse off in every way. Does that not make you wonder?
What they have stated is that there is not one thing an independent Scotland could do better. I find that incredulous and disingenuous.
What does this tell you about how they see the residents of Scotland?
The No campaigners seem to see the residents of Scotland as inept, incompetent and unable to look after themselves.
That is a sad condemnation on the residents of Scotland and especially on the youth of today and tomorrow. What hope does it give youngsters?
R Bertram, Laigh Croft, Inverurie.
What else can they lie about?
Sir, It is very enlightening indeed to see Lord Tebbit’s concerns over the extent to which the British Establishment will go to prioritise protection of itself over the protection of innocent children.
However, none of this will come as a surprise to those familiar with the 30 year-suppression of public knowledge of the McCrone Report’s findings on Scotland’s vast oil wealth and the implication for the viability of Scottish independence.
The British Establishment has a long pedigree in hiding the truth from us, so how can we trust them to tell us the truth about the potential for an independent Scotland?
Ron Greer, Blair Atholl.