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Readers’ letters: Tartan-washing, Scottish athletes and E-scooters

Inverness Alleycat closure
Pictures by JASON HEDGES 17.05.2021 URN: CR0028257 Pubs open again and the high street picks up in Inverness today! Picture: Inverness high street begins to pick up. Inverness was hit hard by the pandemic but what affect has there been on restaurants and cafes? Pictures by JASON HEDGES

Sir, – The demolition of the Ironworks is a huge nail in Inverness’s cultural coffin.

Highland Council seems insistent on tartan-washing Inverness High Street with shops flogging wall-to-wall tourist tat, while simultaneously erasing any character in the remainder of the town with yet more soulless hotels.

What use is more accommodation if there are no events for visitors to come and enjoy?

Every councillor involved in this decision should hang their heads in shame for the cultural vandalism they are overseeing.

Phil MacPhail, Kintail Crescent, Inverness.

Sports stars, not extremists, are Scotland’s true ambassadors

Sir, – Over the space of a month, we have witnessed events that have brought both shame and honour to our country.

The scenes witnessed in Perth, as the two candidates in line to be our new PM gave their vision of the UK under their leadership to the Tory membership, were a dark stain on the reputation of Scotland. A few idiots even climbed the barriers and were prevented by police from entering the venue. A pathetic microcosm of the Capitol Hill riots as supporters of Donald Trump stormed the seat of US government.

Extremism does not have to be right-wing to be reprehensible and dangerous.

In a democracy, those who support a party you disapprove of are not scum, as was seen on banners in Perth, just people with a different political ideology. If democracy dies, so does the world of freedom.

Sadly some foot soldiers of independence, who have hijacked the Saltire as a symbol of their cause, feel that anyone, even journalists, who may have a different view can be subjected to intimidation. Whether or when independence comes, I care not, my sadness is that my country of more than eight decades is descending into a place where voices of dissent feel similar wrath as in a despotic regime.

The first minister agreed the behaviour of the crowd was disgraceful and that if any SNP member was involved, they would face “appropriate action”.

Will it be stronger than “away you go and behave yourself?”

In contrast, two of our finest athletes, Eilish McColgan and Laura Muir, brought honour to our nation with their efforts at the Commonwealth Games. Eilish striding out, her long legs eating up the ground in the 10,000m with opponents lining up ready to pounce. So often in the past, Eilish has been overtaken as the finishing line approaches but on this occasion, she moved up a gear to leave all in her wake, bursting through the tape to claim the gold just as her mother did over the same distance in 1986.

Then, days later, Laura with over a lap of the 1,500m to go, set off like a scalded cat (I hope as a vet she never has one as a patient!) unlikely ever to be caught, the gold being hers from a long way out.

Both victors acknowledged the cheers draped in the Saltire, but only a week later, proudly wore the Union flag representing GB in Munich. They are the true ambassadors for Scotland we should applaud.

Ivan W Reid, Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.

Final nail in the coffin for the UK

Sir, – We’re now seeing on a daily basis, businesses closing down due to many factors such as energy costs and the steady price rise for supplies. Added to this, the fuel costs for all types of vehicles, including petrol, diesel and LPG, are now at a shocking level that very few can afford.

With some of the world’s countries now wanting to end the use of fossil fuels, this will also come at a great cost, with service stations closing down as well as vehicle dealerships.

This will, in fact, be the end of employment for many millions and, for the UK, the final nail in the coffin.

The governments of Scotland and Westminster need to start now in order to get the infrastructure in place so that we can put our islands on a firm foundation.

Gavin Elder, Prunier Drive, Peterhead.

Truss’s ‘solution’ makes no sense

Sir, – I resigned my membership of the Conservative Party on May 30 2022 when I refused to renew until Boris Johnson had resigned.

As a consequence, I have now lost my chance to vote in the leadership contest.

This, from my perspective, is most unfortunate as the current assessment of polling expert Sir John Curtice is it is almost certain Truss will be Britain’s next prime minister unless she “fouls up in some spectacular way”.

In my judgment, she has already indicated her complete disconnection from the realities of the UK’s current situation as she plays politics. Her obsession with tax cuts makes no economic sense with inflation out of control.

Her solution will make things even worse.

Even Sunak will struggle as the current situation is dire, but at least he has a firm grasp of economic reality.

David Philip, Knockhall Way, Newburgh.

High energy costs suit governments

Sir, – At COP26 in Glasgow, the governments of the UK and many others from around the world committed to reducing carbon emissions to net zero. Since then, energy costs have spiralled and continue to rise.

Energy companies are enjoying huge increases in profits and their overheads haven’t risen a great deal, so no complaints from them or the government as the higher the bills are, the more tax goes into the exchequer.

The well-off and high-earners won’t really notice the extra cost of energy but the majority of people will struggle to get by. The reality is high energy costs suit the suppliers, governments and the greens.

The thought of conspiracies comes to mind. Surely the political leaders wouldn’t sink that low to meet net zero carbon targets but don’t hold your breath.

John Jake Wood, Ogilvie Park, Cullen.

Green Freeport reality check

Sir – Interesting to read the latest on the Green Freeport bid and the idea that Aberdeen will be at the forefront of changing the conservative aviation industry with the Acorn Hydrogen Project.

However, a reality check on that notional musing must include the fact that the companies who will facilitate a paradigm shift in avionics are manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing and not a bunch of tax-evading wannabes with ideas above their abilities or what they’ve proven.

Similarly, anyone who thinks that manufacturing cars in Aberdeen is feasible needs their head checked on any number of fronts.

Aside from anti-business attitudes from Tories via austerity, Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis, these are the same clowns responsible for killing Honda’s successful Swindon plant and who failed to invest in so many genuine companies pushing the boundaries of what’s possible; they almost did the same with Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

If I was the Riversimple hydrogen firm, I’d be wary of the fools they’ve just fallen in with after the failed bid for a factory in their native Wales.

And what of how all of that will permanently kill a much-loved park in Torry, needed by residents for their own health and wellbeing?

Well, that’s ignored, as ever, by politicians who are still playing silly games of jumping through burning hoops spouting lies about legacy and whatever rubbish they think the electorate will swallow.

Ian Beattie, Baker Street, Aberdeen.

Drivers on phones witnessed daily

Sir, – Tragically, in the last month there has been a spate of fatal car crashes in Scotland and probably due so to a number of collective reasons.

However, there is always the safest way to drive and this is undoubtedly without illegal text/phone use at the wheel and especially at Pennyfuir between Connel and Oban.

On the A85, breaches of our good and necessary safe driving laws are witnessed daily.

Stephen Jones, Burnside Place, Oban.

The conundrum of retail rents

Sir, – While visiting Edinburgh recently, I asked some friends who have two very successful gift shop businesses in two very good retail areas in the city, whether they had considered expanding and opening in Aberdeen.

They both laughed. They have been looking for years for a shop in Aberdeen, around Schoolhill but said that, relatively speaking, the rents were absurdly high – so no.

Intrigued by this and as an Edinburgh retail business owner until 2018, I decided to investigate. So, I looked at the rent of a shop near me in the west end of Aberdeen that’s new on the market.

It is smaller than the shop I had in Stockbridge in Edinburgh (arguably the best retail area in Scotland), is in area of little footfall, yet the rent is 20% higher than what I was paying in the capital. Compared to my friends in Edinburgh, it is 30% higher.

This is something of a conundrum, to say the least!

James Walker, Union Grove, Aberdeen.

Hotel boss should act not moan

Sir, – The feature in the Business section of the P&J, “Hotels facing cost of business crisis” (August 24) by Mr Leckie will get very little support from ordinary readers. I appreciate that many small businesses will fail as a result of the economic and geopolitical situation at the moment.

However, Mr Leckie’s moan about his business pressures seem very inappropriate when he made a profit of £3.1 million last year; received over £1m in government and other grants, and just to show how difficult things are for him, he also invested £3m for future development.

It would seem rather inappropriate for him to think he is hard done by while making a profit, getting support from us, the taxpayers, and investing for the future.

His “business crisis” and future is at a time when half of Scotland’s population have debt due to the rising costs of living and are in food and fuel poverty.

Perhaps it is time for business people like Mr Leckie to stop moaning and to have compassion and empathy for those who are very much worse off than they are.

Is it the appropriate time for them and their shareholders to be making a voluntary windfall contribution to support society?

That would be a much better headline and elevate their status. After all, it is society that provides them with their profits.

Dr Don Carney, Meadowlands Place, Westhill.

Taking a stand against e-scooters

Sir, – There are more than 750,000 private e-scooters in the UK being used illegally on roads and pavements, causing 11 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries.

Unfortunately, e-scooters are soon to be made legal on roads south of the border and the DVL will assume responsibility.

Transport is a devolved issue so here is a chance for the Scottish Government to show true independence by refusing to allow e-scooters in Scotland.

If they do not, then the public had better don protective gear, helmets and use shields since pavements and shopping malls are the e-scooter riders’ favourite hunting grounds.

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow.

SNP the real culprit in binmen pay row

If there is any group of essential service workers that deserve a decent wage it’s the binmen, as they have worked through the Covid pandemic every day in all weathers keeping our streets clean and getting rid of our ever-growing waste bins.

They didn’t have the easy option of working from home on full pay as many council workers did and are still doing, with questionable performance as the phones go unanswered at our townhouse offices.

The real culprit in this situation is, of course, the SNP Government who hide behind their serious underfunding of local authorities and then have the cheek to blame them for not sorting out their workforce wage reviews.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Mugiemoss Road, Bucksburn.

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