Sir, – I feel the Seivwright family from Torry, Aberdeen, should have been honoured in the New Year honours list.
They tirelessly raised money to provide a defibrillator for every primary school in Aberdeen, in memory of their daughter who passed away suddenly.
I know this wasn’t done for recognition and I appreciate the people who did receive this honour were deserving, but come on King Charles, ordinary folk like the Seivwrights are deserving too.
Maureen Duncan.
Something very fishy about current marine farming practice
Sir, – It was extremely disappointing to see your paper facilitating one of the biggest apologists for open-cage salmon farming and his promotion of this increasingly unpopular industry (Tavish Scott, Collaboration rather than confrontation is how to save our salmon, Agenda, January 4).
The salmon farming industry causes local pollution, ecological devastation, genetic pollution of wild stocks and the ruination of local subsistence fisheries around the world. These are not suppositions, they are supported by bodies of research and clear evidence.
The industry is being disingenuous – they have been and continue to be aware of their impacts, they know how many dead salmon they send to landfill each year, they know how sick and diseased many of their stock are at any time, they know how many tonnes of chemicals are used, they know it takes more than 25kg of fish protein to deliver 1kg of table-ready salmon. Unless they admit to the damage they cause to the ecosystems on which salmon depend, there is no point in any so-called “collaboration to save the wild species”.
Current marine farming practice is incompatible with wild salmon population health.
Paul Ryder, Strathmore Road, Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear.
Labour’s gender reform mystery
Sir, – On Wednesday December 21 I attended the protest against the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill at Holyrood and also spent the afternoon listening to the debate in the chamber.
Some principled SNP and Tory politicians joined the crowd outside or spoke to them from a makeshift platform. Ex-Labour MSP Johann Lamont delivered a powerful address in support of opposition to the Bill in its present form. Sadly, it seems she was the only one of her party who dared to speak out. While I take my hat off to those SNP MSPs, who debated and voted according to their conscience and defied the party whip, I feel profoundly let down by Labour MSPs who didn’t have the courage to do the same.
My biggest disappointment, however, is Labour MSP Jackie Baillie who convincingly argued for crucial amendments in order to safeguard single-sex services and to retain the definition of sex, man and woman according to the UK Equality Act 2010. These amendments were a reflection of a statement issued by Scottish Labour on their position on the GRR but were defeated. One could be forgiven for assuming that this should have been enough for Ms Baillie and her party to vote against the Bill. Yet, inexplicably, the opposite happened.
It remains a mystery why Scottish Labour allowed the Bill to pass although it still contained the same points of criticism. And it needs to be seen what voters will make of it.
The mutterings I overheard in the public gallery suggest that at least chunks of the female vote have now turned against them.
Regina Erich, Willow Row, Stonehaven.
‘Wallace wannabes’ freedom call is toxic
Sir, – As sure as night follows day, the William Wallace wannabes in the SNP will stir up as much trouble as possible for the UK, the world-leading G7 country that millions of migrants are desperate to call home, and take Scotland back 700 years to the days of clan warfare, in their bitter struggle for an independent-but-ruled-by-Brussels Scotland.
With more than 15 years of toxic failure already to their credit, it’s looking a lot like the greatest achievements of the SNP in government has been to squander taxpayers’ money bribing the public, prisoners, foreign nationals, and others for votes and wooing our impressionable schoolchildren with nostalgic Braveheart claptrap on social media.
As they get older, and so much wiser, many young Scots will waken up to the dodgy shenanigans of the SNP and recognise that they have nothing to offer but to inflict the historic ongoing troubles of Ireland on Scotland.
Rabble-rousing, swivel-eyed Nats do not take kindly to people who do not agree with their blinkered point of view. The late, long-standing Highland MP Charles Kennedy knew all about that. For the SNP to keep having skewed neverendums, until they eventually win once, will surely go down in history as the greatest piece of Mafia democracy ever performed on this, our troubled planet.
George Emslie, Bridge Of Don, Aberdeen.
Make housing cost tax-deductible
Sir, – If retrospective work to improve rural homes’ energy efficiency was tax-deductible I would believe the Scottish Government parties were sincere.
Many thousands of homes require being stripped back to bare walls to retrofit insulation, double glazing and a supposedly sustainable heating system. The costs from my experience are many tens of thousands of pounds per house. Rents will not pay the cost of renovation.
The Scottish Government has the power to make the costs 100% tax-deductible, no public money is required.
Colin Clark, Former MP for Gordon, Fingask House, Oldmeldrum.
What happens in combat stays there
Sir, – As an 82-year-old veteran who served in earlier conflicts and read about Prince Harry and the statements he has made about killing a number of Taliban during his tour in Afghanistan, he should not have commented on this subject.
“One does not talk about things like that”, as any serving or ex-member of the armed forces will tell you.
Don McKay, Provost Hogg Court, Torry, Aberdeen.
SNP’s spending on health a sickener
Sir, – I am unclear what Peter E Smith (Letters, January 6) found underhand about my letter which was published in plain view, in plain English. I believe I’m entitled to express an opinion just as he’s entitled to his.
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of boastful national claims is the repeated ones that NHS Scotland is far superior to any other national health service in the UK. The claims are repeatably made by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP who have controlled the spending, training, and recruitment in NHS Scotland for the last 15 years while completely ignoring the potential funding differences with other nations.
Effectively any increase in spending on the English NHS would have been reflected as a significant 10% boost for healthcare funding in Scotland courtesy of the Barnet consequential. However, under the SNP they quite deliberately choose to spend the extra health money on other things quite separate from health spending where they cunningly look to where they might get more political advantage. Had the 10.23% advantage of Barnet been spent the health situation should not just be slightly better than England but consistently much, much better. It is significant that this additional funding is never mentioned.
Nicola Sturgeon has clearly directly had her hands on the health levers of power in Scotland but has deliberately limited the additional health spending to about 3%. She should be ashamed of selling Scotland short. I wonder if SNP members are aware of the subterfuge?
David Philip, Knockhall Way, Newburgh.
Why the negativity about Sir Ian Wood?
Sir, – I was surprised at the totally negative comments you printed concerning the oil tycoon (Sir Ian Wood).
How many such people offer money to revamp a major area of the city centre, to have it turned down?
If you have need to attend ARI there is a car park supplied by Helen Wood which makes life a lot easier than it used to be to park. There are two sides to most stories.
E Barton, Aboyne.
Not enough quality MPs
Sir, – I read with great interest the recent letter from Walter Service and have to say, I agree with every word.
The problem with the administration and the Westminster Government is we have shoddy MPs and MSPs – not all of them, but certainly a good few.
The people who follow the SNP/Green alliance can’t put up a decent argument for independence when they can’t run our great country as it is.
Westminster now has too many career politicians not really true to any party.
I think all the parties need to do more scrutinising of potential MPs instead of choosing the ones from universities, then we would get good quality MPs and MSPs.
Allan Malcolm.
Honours list well past sell-by date
Sir, – King Charles lll’s New Year honours list has far too many people being rewarded with titles and gongs simply for doing a job they get paid for.
Civil servants and political cronies seem only to have to turn up for work to make it on to the list.
Showbiz celebrities and sport personalities, some help charities, but many don’t appear to do anything other than enjoy a fantastic time doing what they love!
The whole system is in need of reform.
The King is modernising “The Firm”, so why not reinvent the honours list?
It’s getting well past it’s sell-by date in a modern world.
T Shirron, Aberdeen.
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