Sir, – Winter is now well and truly here. Mention must not be made of the elephant in the room – indeed the woolly mammoth!
The Tory-supporting media is careful not to report the frustration and anger building up regarding unaffordable utility costs unnecessarily foisted upon citizens by an aloof and uncaring Westminster elite.
It is nothing less than a national disgrace that the Westminster government allows the citizens of the UK and especially those here in the north to pay exorbitant prices for gas and electricity.
They say it is all Putin’s fault. On the contrary, it is the short-termism and failure of this current and previous UK governments to have any coherent strategy on energy.
All successive governments – Tory, Tory/Lib Dem and Labour – have done for the past 50 years is Hoover up taxes from the energy producers without any strategic future planning.
Indeed there is so little gas storage in the UK that this summer most of the gas produced from the North Sea was sold to Holland.
A UK Government report last September stated categorically that existing North Sea assets at that date could supply all the UK’s needs till 2030 so why are we importing energy at all?
Little mention is made of the fact that France and Spain are protecting their people by placing a price cap of about 4-5% on the price of energy.
Yet here in the UK energy producers like Shell or BP and their shareholders are placed above citizens who are the bedrock of society in an upside down pyramid that mirrors the current state of the UK, with citizens at the bottom.
Why do we pay global prices for our energy when we produce it locally? So that the Westminster cabal of charlatans and spivs fix it in order to line the pockets of their donors and cronies…PPE revisited?
The fiscal assistance given by Westminster does not even touch the sides of the utility bills in most cases. And then they Hoover up £54 billion in tax on the producers rather than capping the price.
In essence the people are footing the bill on this monetary roundabout so that dividends can be paid.
And all this in the UK which has vast experience in producing energy in various forms, so it should not find itself in this position. Again a victim of short-termism with the live for today and never mind tomorrow mentality.
Former politicians always land on their feet with posts in the House of Lords or finance houses, plus a gold-plated pension to boot, so tomorrow is not that important to them.
This will not end well. We have all the ingredients for civil unrest as there is only so much folk can and will take.
I believe it is only a matter of time before we hear folk say they can’t pay and won’t pay. Then there are the old and infirm who will die in their beds having quietly tried to make ends meet.
Meanwhile the NHS will be left to deal with hypothermia and pneumonia patients in hospital corridors.
Politicians, get a grip and do something now. History may well repeat itself in the current circumstances with the inevitable fall of the UK Establishment hastened.
So get your head out of the comfy expenses paid-for heating of your ivory tower and sort out this mess of your making.
Peter Macari, Bieldside, Aberdeen.
Appalling idea to cut off promenade
Sir, – I am appalled to read of the plans to cut access to Aberdeen’s promenade.
How many other cities have an easy route to two miles of pristine beach from the town centre?
Generations of Aberdonians and many visitors have enjoyed this wonderful area and have driven, walked and cycled the scenic route from Dee to Don.
Is this plan all in preparation for further ruining the area with a massive football/skating development?
No longer can our parents and children sit on the sands listening to the waves lapping; instead the air will be punctuated by roars from the football stadium.
I appeal to all Aberdonians who cherish our heritage, don’t let this happen. Once it is done, there will be no going back.
D Schofield, Gordon Road, Aberdeen.
Inquiry needed for Post Office scandal
Sir, – Posties and counter staff have long been a combination of disciplined, honest and principled people who, by the very integration of their employment, meant that they were familiar with each other; rather like a large family.
So, when a new computer system was installed behind counters and they regularly had to ensure the figures added up, the grumbles of frustration grew and spilled out as staff struggled to get it all sorted.
Then came the astonishment when a large number of Post Office staff found themselves charged with dishonesty and faced with court action, fines and even jail.
It appeared to management that a sudden crime wave sweeping through the ranks of hitherto honest postal staff was an easier explanation than that it was the defective newly-installed computer program – which turned out to be the case.
Being short-changed with their compensation for all the pain and sleepless nights has left quite a number still awaiting recompense.
An absolute disgrace. Isn’t it time there was a public inquiry into this injustice?
Sam Coull, Lendrum Terrace, Boddam, Peterhead.
Invest in homes, not new stadium
Sir, – It is the right of every person that they should have adequate housing, access to education for children and healthcare.
This is why I hope that those who write to The P&J letters page urging Aberdeen City Council to open the public purse to spend some of its limited budget on the proposed super-duper net-zero stadium for the Dons, take heed of a news item in a recent edition.
In it a worried mother tells of her fears for her children’s health from living in a “damp and mouldy” council home.
It’s disgraceful that some tenants still live in conditions a homeowner would not tolerate.
Housing should be prioritised in the council’s spending objectives, so families can be raised in an environment more appropriate to modern standards than the slums of a century ago.
A new bathroom was promised for this property, and I hope that for others similarity affected the council uses its funds appropriately to modernise the housing stock under its control.
This should be extended to building new and increasingly environmentally-friendly homes so families can enjoy standards that are normal to many private owners.
Why should those doing the myriad low-paid jobs that keep the wheels of society in motion not enjoy a decent modern standard of housing?
I hope our present council leaders do not buckle to pressure.
It will be huge as powerful figures don’t like no for an answer to their vision of the future benefits from investing in the proposed stadium.
It’s stale bread today but promises of cake tomorrow.
As we live at a time of financial crisis, amid budgetary constraints that politicians even at local level must contend with, could they really justify allocating public funds to a venture whose main beneficiary is privately-owned?
Speculative funding belongs to the world of the private investor. not those guarding the public purse.
Ivan W. Reid, Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.
We’re giving to the top charity CEOs
Sir, – Christmas is a time for giving and many charities are asking for donations.
The top eight famous names include Cancer Research, Unicef and the Red Cross.
The highest salary for a CEO is £395,000 and the lowest is £119,000.
Many who work for these charities are volunteers, so when you donate your money it goes toward the salary of the CEO before the remainder is allocated to the people who will receive the help the charity provides.
It looks like this is a time for giving by some, while the CEOs are receiving.
Don McKay, Provost Hogg Court, Torry, Aberdeen.
It’s time the SNP worked for Scots
Sir, – I keep missing something with the SNP government. You would expect them to be pro- Scotland but the reverse is the impression given too often.
Take the article in The P&J whereby the SNP want whisky to be out of sight and not on display to potential buyers.
It is more of their insanity. I often like to boast that it never fails to amaze me that wherever I am in the world in a bar, I’ll see behind the bar a bottle of Jura whisky among myriad others. Jura! An island of 250 people. Amazing and iconic!
We should be proud and displaying our world famous, iconic product everywhere.
So, the SNP’s idea of supporting the Scottish economy is banning our iconic whisky marketing and imposing ridiculous licensing on rural holiday lets – which is an Edinburgh problem!
Worst of all for the north-east, they say let’s ban fossil fuel production and the many jobs it will bring.
And, oh yes, while we are at it, let’s not bother having a decent ferry service to the Western Isles through sheer government incompetence.
James Walker, Union Grove, Aberdeen.
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