Sir, – Jeanette Thomson of Binn Eco Park (January 12) complains it is unfair their proposed windfarm has missed the deadline for subsidy.
Doubtless every business would like to receive a 25-year guarantee forcing customers to pay double the market price for their product, which is what onshore wind generators have been enjoying until the Conservatives promised to end subsidies.But all good things come to an end, particularly when wind speculators have been grabbing these over-generous subsidies at such a rate that electricity prices are rocketing, our whole energy system has become unbalanced and security of supply is now on a knife’s edge.Binn Eco Park were late to the wind free-for-all.Ms Thomson also says the loss of subsidy for Binn Eco Park goes against the spirit of the Conservative Party’s manifesto which promised to give local people the final say on onshore wind applications.This is puzzling on a number of counts.First, the local democracy introduced by the Westminster Government applied to onshore wind planning, not subsidies.Nor does it extend to Scotland since planning is devolved.Shamefully, the Scottish Government has rejected all calls from rural residents, environmental groups, community councils and local authorities to give the same planning rights to its citizens.Second, a majority of local people did not want the Binn windfarm and Perth and Kinross planning officers assessed the proposal as unacceptable.The councillors on the Perth and Kinross planning committee ignored both their officers’ recommendation and the views of objectors when they approved the application.Linda Holt.Dreel House,Pittenweem.Immigrants bring benefitsSir, – Much of the debate about the EU renegotiation by the Prime Minister has focused on restricting access to benefits for those from other European Union countries coming to the UK.Some perspective is needed on this. What tends to be forgotten is that there are around 2.2 million UK citizens living and working in the rest of the EU with, for example, just over one million British people living in Spain and 329,000 in Ireland.Indeed, unemployed Britons in the EU are drawing much more in benefits and allowances in wealthier EU countries than their nationals are claiming in the UK.For example, four times as many Britons obtain unemployment benefits in Germany as Germans do in the UK, while the number of jobless Britons receiving benefits in Ireland exceeds their Irish counterparts in the UK by a rate of five to one.Contrary to popular perceptions, the figures for nationals of those 10 east European countries drawing Jobseeker’s Allowance in the UK remain modest, despite the periodical outcries about “benefits tourism”.There are only about 1,000 Romanians and 500 Bulgarians, for example, drawingJobseeker’s Allowance in Britain, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.Of those EU migrants living here, a mere 1.2% are not economically active, amounting to a miniscule number.According to University College London, between 2001 and 2011 EU migrants made an estimated positive net contribution of £20 billion to the UK economy as they tend to be younger and more economically active than our own workforce, paying more in taxes and receivingless in benefits.Those from the EU who have made the UK their home make an overwhelmingly positive contribution economically, socially and culturally and it is good to sometimes highlight the facts as well as remembering those UK citizens who live in other EU countries.Derek Hammersley.The European Movement in Scotland,2 Walker Street,Edinburgh.Close borders of EuropeSir, – Germany’s refugee policies are responsible for destabilising Germany and Europe.A police report warned that the influx of one million immigrants was effectively importing 100,000 criminals to Germany along with terrorists who use the refugee route to avoid detection.Males from the Middle East and North Africa are from a culture which believes women are inferior and that Western women are fair game for their unwanted attentions.So far, 652 complaints of sexual attacks, including on children, have been received by the German police in Cologne alone.Other German cities affected were Hamburg, Munich and Berlin and similar attacks occurred in Austria, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.The backlash has started with demands that Germany close its borders, deport bogus asylum seekers and that Chancellor Angela Merkel, the architect of this destructive tsunami, resigns.The end of the open-borders policy and establishing a fortress Europe is essential for the survival of Western civilisation.Clark Cross.138 Springfield Road,Linlithgow.SNP need better vettingSir, – So Alex Salmond continues to be highly critical of Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. Fair enough maybe. The former First Minister, however, is considerably less outspoken against his colleague, Craig Melville, Dundee SNP councillor and aide to Stewart Hosie, deputy nationalist leader, accused of sending highly abusive anti-Islamic texts.Before his attempt to ban Mr Trump from the UK, Mr Salmond encouraged him to expand his business empire in Scotland. His change of heart grabs headlines but could place Scottish jobs at risk.And how about, as someone at the heart of the SNP hierarchy, creating a more robust selection process for his party’s representatives?Martin Redfern.4 Royal Circus,Edinburgh.Rebellion starts on council taxSir, – John Swinney says money paid to local authorities to compensate for the freeze on council tax more than covers inflation.Yet he knows many of the services provided by councils are under greater pressure than general inflation.In education or providing care for some of the most disadvantaged in society, many core costs and levels of demand run ahead of wider inflation.Equally, the Finance Secretary applies direct budget cuts on councils year after year, but stops them raising money to fill the gap through council tax.Moray Council and others are right to consider fighting back.Keith Howell.White Moss,West Linton.New financial crisis unfoldsSir, – Stock markets around the world ended last week with massive sell-offs, rocked by fears that the slowdown in China and plunging oil and commodity prices will trigger a new financial crisis of the order of the disaster in 2007 and 2008.A major factor in the Chinese sell-off was concern that Beijing will report its weakest full-year growth figure in 25 years this coming week.The price of oil, a barometer of global economic activity, is down 20% so far this year.The first two weeks of 2016 have seen the steepest two-week decline in oil prices since 2008.Since the financial crash, the world capitalist economy has been propped up by rapid growth in China and a number of emerging-market countries and a huge run-up in stock prices, all of which has been engineered on the basis of an immense growth of debt.The central banks of the US, Europe and Asia have pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets.This, combined with ruthless austerity against the working class, has formed the basis for an unprecedented enrichment of the world’s rich and super-rich and a further transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top.But in the older industrialised countries, there has been a sharp decline in business investment in the productive forces.Instead, the vast profits of banks and corporations have gone largely to parasitic activities such as stock buybacks, dividend increases and mergers and acquisitions.Now, with China slowing rapidly, Brazil and Russia in deep recessions and the other emerging market economies sinking under the impact of falling commodity prices and rising debt, the inherently unstable financial house of cards is beginning to collapse.Alan Hinnrichs.2 Gillespie Terrace,Dundee.A poor use of taxpayers’ cashSir, – I was interested to read (January 16) that Chris Law, MP for Dundee West, spent £4,036 to kit out his new office and said it was good value for the taxpayer.I fail to see that. Why could he not have taken over the office that Jim McGovern was using and save taxpayers money?This would make more sense.Alex Hendry.24 Luke Place,Broughty Ferry.Third question for EU poll?Sir, – The forthcoming European Union referendum should have a third question. It should read: “Should Britain remain a member of the EU but ignore the regulations that don’t suit us, as every other EU member does?”Malcolm Parkin.15 Gamekeepers Road,Kinnesswood,Kinross.