Sir – Mr Gordon Dilworth, Pitlochry, one of your frequently-published correspondents, notes Clark Cross’ oft-repeated complaints against the WWF’s evidently illogical campaigns favouring the United Kingdom’s very costly, but inevitably futile, attempts to change the world’s climate.
The very well-funded WWF’s fundamental concerns, as its name implies, lie surely with directly seeking benefits for worldwide wild creatures, which was Sir Peter Scott’s intention in founding the charity, rather than as a political pressure group.
The vastly expensive worldwide green movement’s endeavours to prevent global warming, based on theoretical,so far failed, computer predictions have wasted and still cost us vast financial commitments to empty green tokenism.
For our greatly-indebted nation to continue wasting huge resources on such a wild goose chase makes no sense, as Clark Cross very usefully keepspointing out, so for the WWF’s Mr Lang Banks to champion such a lost cause is a waste of its money.
(Dr) Charles Wardrop. 111 Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Correct figure on carbon output
Sir, – You stated (February 18) that 300,000 tonnes of carbon savings has resulted from the operation of the20-30-20 electric taxi fleet in Dundee.
The 300,000 should have been in kilogrames not tonnes, so 300 tonnes is being claimed, but no account is taken of emissions arising from the electricity used by the electric cars.
On average, electric cars produce about half the emissions of modern diesel cars, so the netfigure claimed should have been 150 tonnes.
We are great fans of electric cars and my wife owns one. They have zero tail-pipe emissions which significantly improves air quality.
I hope you can rectify this error; it leaves us open to the scepticism of climate deniers who always seize on exaggerated claims to undermine our credibility.
Doug McLaren. Friends of the Earth Tayside.
Earthly models reveal divine
Sir, – Stuart Wishart’s observation (February 18) that an imaginative belief produces animaginary God is well made, as God is beyond the ability of the human mind and imagination to contain.
However, I suggest imagination plays an important role inconnecting us to ourindividual perceptions of God.
Prophetic insightemanating from abeliever’s godlyimagination has been experienced byChristians since the emergence of the New Testament.
The poet William Blake held that theunfettered imaginationis the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thomas Aquinas wrote that it is theimagination which constellates faithful human emotion.
There are many who profess a Christian belief who would agree that imagining God’s presence need not invalidate the statement that belief in God is based on faith, not imagination.
Christians, forhundreds of years, have held images of the almighty when praying the words: “Our Father in Heaven”.
The Lord’s Prayer would likely be far less meaningful, rather than more, had we had no knowledge or experience of wise earthly fathers.
Andrew M Lothian. 76 Blackness Avenue, Dundee.
Blame BBC for lack of football
Sir, – Allan Sutherland (February 22) appears to be blaming the Scottish Government for Scottish Premiership Football only being shown on BBC Alba.
Surely it is the programming responsibility of the branch office of the BBC, or the biggest most trusted media organisation in the world to use his rather over-generous description.
Or is it just fair game to blame Holyrood for anything and everything, as long as no London or Westminster organisation gets any criticism?
Grant Adamson. 8 Morlich Gardens, Dundee.
Immigration risk in EU
Sir, – Maybe my imagination is running wild.
I can see a situation where England votes to leave the EU and Scotland votes to stay in.
The SNP hold a referendum and argue for the benefits of Scotland being an EU member: the Euro, government from Brussels and a full contribution to EUcoffers.
They might even by some miracle convince enough people it was a good idea.
Then we would have open borders inviting unlimited people from Eastern Europe (including Turkey) whoactually want to get to London.
England would have to close the border. British Scots would become foreigners in their own country and trade would fizzle out.
Angela Merkel spoke and Europe was flooded by a million migrants. Why would anyone want to be a part of that?
RJ Soutar. Camperdown Street, Broughty Ferry.
EU vote a recipe for division
Sir, – As the EU referendum is set to become the subject we all have to suffer for the next few months, we also need to keep our minds on the Holyrood elections in May.
And while all the polls show another majority for the nationalists, not bad going considering the weight and ferocity of the media’s negative rhetoric, it is by no means in the bag just yet.
That is why, thanks to our southern rulers and their selfishness, the Scottish political parties have a juggling actahead with the European Union question coming a mere six weeks after the Scottish one.
However, the timing may just transpire tocreate the perfectstorm, resulting in the end of the unfair imperial ownership of our nation as worse even thanScotland being dragged out of the EU by others would be for England to kept in the EU because of Scotland’s vote.
Just how muchlove will we feel fromthe south in thatscenario?
So while you watch the same recycled, fabricated referendum scarestories being rolled out, just remember, when Scotland votes differently to its neighbours, as we will make sure it does, then the constitution will be forced to change and better late than never.
Richard Clark. Craigton, Monikie.
Benefit cuts may backfire
Sir, – One wonders whether the proposal in the European summit to index the level of child benefits being sent to a child in a member state, other than where the worker resides, has been thoroughly thought through.
About 20,000 families receive child benefit for around 34,000 children living outside the UK in another EU member state. This is 0.26% of UK child benefit claims.
So, what we have is the scapegoating, largely targeted at Eastern Europeans, who take little in benefits and contribute more into the system.
What seems to have been forgotten is that while, given these figures, there will be very small benefits arising from index linking, such benefits to those from Eastern Europe, little account seems to have been taken of those UK citizens living in the likes of France (330,000 or Germany (107,000).
These have more generous benefit systems and if they link child benefits for UK citizens to UK levels and not those in the member state, this would have impacts.
One wonders if they are aware of this possibility and what cost-benefit analysis has been done of the overall benefits of implementing such a system in the UK, given the tiny numbers involved.
Alex Orr. 77 LeamingtonTerrace, Edinburgh.
SNP must work with Tories
Sir, – Our SNP government champions independence and is campaigning to stay in the EU, giving control to Brussels. I don’t understand.
Many moderate Scots appear to intend to vote for a hard-left socialist government in May. Can someone explain why?
One reason the SNP gives for staying in the EU is that it will be good for trade, and yet Scotland’s largest trading partner by far is the rest of the UK.
One thing which is reassuring familiar is that, in his Monday column, Alex Salmond chose to criticise David Cameron rather than taking the opportunity to make a positive case for staying in: and Nicola Sturgeon warns David Cameron about campaigning in Scotland.
Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, you’re on the same side as Mr Cameron this time. Start working together in a common cause.
Hugh Laidlaw. North Lodge, Monimail, Cupar.