Sir, I was a little confused by the remarks made by Dr John Cameron in his letter on Friday (July 25).
First of all he said the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games was poor compared to the Olympic ceremony then pointed out that we needed an English event organiser, apparently because of our lack of confidence.
Surely he knows it was a Scotsman who organised the Olympic opening?
Rather a lot more money was spent then, as well.
Should I mention David Cameron’s ill-advised speech at that opening ceremony begging for a “no” vote, since Dr Cameron seems to think Mr Salmond was playing some sort of blinder?
The worst thing in his letter, however, was saying that the Commonwealth Games are a non-event. Surely encouraging young athletes from all over the world is praiseworthy?
His parting shot about rapacious Scots is beneath contempt.
W Thompson. Kirkton of Craig, Montrose.
Sniping from the sidelines
Sir, If I was a betting man I would have been on the red- hot favourite to deride the Commonwealth Games in choosing Dr John Cameron of St Andrews.
He was straight in there sneering at the efforts of dedicated people trying to entertain and welcome the rest of the world (1.5 billion viewers, I heard reported) to Glasgow and Scotland.
“A pale reflection on London” he observes but ignores the fact London 2012 was financed with millions of pounds of lottery money the likes of which was most certainly not available to Glasgow 2014.
He always likes to snipe away from the sidelines with just enough ammunition to support his own derisory view. Whilst by no means to everyone’s taste, the opening ceremony, in places, developed into a very enjoyable few hours, rounding off with games chief Prince Imran and
Sir Chris Hoy providing the comedy highlight of the night trying to extricate the Queen’s message from the baton.
They even had the good grace to laugh at themselves something I’m sure Mr Cameron would never contemplate.
As far as a “sporting non-event” is concerned the games are becoming more and more popular as each event and day passes.
At least reader Wilma Thom of Forfar had the good grace to admit being wrong in her condemnation of the Scotland team’s uniform for the games.
That shows the mark of the woman.
Ian Allan. 5 Marchside Court, Sauchie.
It has nothing to do with EU
Sir, Your correspondent Gordon Kennedy (Ridiculous this is even being considered, letters, July 26) makes a rather basic, but sadly common, error.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has nothing to do with the European Union (EU).
The ECtHR was established by the Council of Europe, of which the United Kingdom was a founder member in 1949.
The Council of Europe is a completely separate body from the EU, which the UK did not join until 23 years later. The ECtHR enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, based largely on UK and French law, and drafted under the chairmanship of Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, a British MP (Conservative) and lawyer, which the Council of Europe, including the UK, ratified in 1953.
The ECtHR must not be confused with the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which enforces the entirely separate EU law.
To attribute a European Court of Human Rights ruling to “the meddling EU”, as Mr Kennedy does, is incorrect.
Dr Richard A’Brook. 82 Thomas Street, Carnoustie.
Shows a lack of imagination
Sir, The lack of imagination shown by BBC TV programme planners never ceases to amaze me.
The most recent example is the amount of time devoted to the Commonwealth Games with BBC1, BBC2 and BBC3 showing at least 26 hours per day plus a fair amount of highlights etc on the news programmes. This together with countless repeat programmes on BBC2.
It does not say very much for the many highly paid staff employed to plan the programmes we view.
I quite enjoy watching athletics but feel coverage of the games has been overdone. I admit to being a TV addict. Perhaps this is part of a BBC plan to cure my addiction.
Bill Low. Golf Course Road, Blairgowrie.
A misleading statement
Sir, You had a piece in The Courier on Saturday regarding the loss in revenue to Barnardo’s charity shops if people did not use gift aid when they handed in their donation.
You stated that if every person who donated used this scheme the charity would be £53,957 better off in Angus and Dundee.
This statement is misleading, however, because first of all you have to be a taxpayer in order to be able to use gift aid so this rules out a lot of people. Sign up if you pay tax, but it’s useless if you don’t.
Eleanor Reid. 50 Cortachy Crescent, Kirriemuir.