Sir,– A controversial scheme for shutting off large areas of the Scottish fishing grounds, under the guise of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMA), has all the hallmarks of the Green Party. This scheme is being introduced as part of the Bute House Agreement between the government and the Scottish Greens with the intention of closing 10% of Scottish waters for fishing.
The government has hailed its plans as “a step change in the protection of our marine environment’’.
Elspeth Macdonald of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation branded the plans as “greenwashing’’.
Mike Park, Scottish White Fish Producers Association, indicated that there was already marine protected areas (MPAs) and for other restrictions to be introduced “for no other reason than to meet political targets is scandalous’’.
The Tory MP for Banff and Buchan, David Duguid, claimed this new scheme was the “biggest threat to the north-east fishing industry for decades’’.
There’s little doubt that this scheme adds more difficulties to our Scottish fishermen, who are already going through a difficult time, and they don’t need any further restrictions put unnecessarily in place.
Mind you there could be many major changes coming now that Nicola Sturgeon has resigned. We can only hope.
Ken Watmough, past president National Federation of Fishmongers, Aberdeen.
Open discussion quite impossible
Sir, – “There are none so blind as those that will not see” which applies to the most ardent believers who are those who choose to deliberately ignore things that they already really know but are completely unable to acknowledge.
The degrees of intolerance and abject prejudice are so extreme that reasoned argument and open discussion are quite impossible.
Among the most avid Scottish nationalists this is immediately very obvious. This hard core are unshakeable in their beliefs but their numbers are quite limited.
The reality was that there was no uptick in support of independence in February but actually the complete opposite – a significant 6% downtick. Among the numerous sources of up-to-date polls information, we had Alex Salmond’s Burns Night speech, Professor Curtice’s poll analysis, and even Lord Ashcroft’s poll analysis.
New Scottish Independence poll, YouGov 17 – 20 Feb (changes vs 23 -26 Jan):
No ~ 49% (+1)
Yes ~ 42% (nc)
Don't Know ~ 9% (-2)Excluding Don't Knows (/ vs 2014):
No ~ 54% (+1 / -1)
Yes ~ 46% (-1 / +1) pic.twitter.com/b8U1bdDn2v— Ballot Box Scotland (@BallotBoxScot) February 21, 2023
The Scottish Parliament is devolved rather than independent. As such its powers are strictly limited to specified areas.
If it strays beyond these limits the UK is legally obliged to intervene.
The SNP’s pretence at being already totally independent is an illusion and pretence that as yet has not been agreed by a majority of Scots in Scotland.
This as the Supreme Court has ruled is legally binding.
Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP may attempt to ignore it but that is clearly illegal as the powers of the devolved Scottish Parliament are limited.
What was passed needs to be revised and amended. The Gender Recognition Reform Bill is currently simply “not valid”.
David Philip, Knockhall Way, Newburgh.
Disinformation on independence
Sir, – Herbert Petrie in his latest letter of support of independence (Letters, February 15) wants us to forget money spent on Brexit and other past expenses so that we can have a better future. I can’t think of any government, in any global nation, who would not like to govern by hindsight. If only it were so easy.
Next he says we have been denied democracy but wants the people of Scotland to hold a de facto referendum at the next general election. His version of democracy.
Finally he states that Scotland is not subsidised by England, it is the other way round. The facts are neither subsidises the other. The UK finances are balanced to population and it is a fact that Scotland gets more per head via Barnett than England. Nothing to do with subsidy. What a disappointment that so many of his letters throw nonsense in the air as fact in the hope that some will fall for the content of it.
Walter Service, Danestone, Aberdeen.
Nightmare at Foresterhill
Sir, – On February 13 at approximately 2pm I had the misfortune of parking in the multi-storey at Foresterhill.
I realised it was busy as I had to go up to Level 8 to get a parking spot.
All went well until my friend and I returned to the car to go home to Fraserburgh. We managed to get down to Level 7, before coming to a complete stop behind a line of cars in a massive traffic jam where we stayed without moving for one hour 10 minutes.
No one had a clue what had happened.
There didn’t seem to be anyone there to let us all know why we weren’t moving. It turned out that because of the changes they’ve made to the way cars enter and exit the car park, cars exiting were confronted by cars trying to come in and park.
My question is: who made these changes and why were they needed? Does this happen every afternoon or was Monday just exceptionally busy?
All in all we were stuck there longer than it took to get home to the Broch.
Why is there a need for the cones to be down blocking left turns when entering and exiting? This means you’ve to do a full circle of every level. I’ve parked in this car park many times and never encountered this before but I certainly hope I’ve no reason to use it again in the near future.
Elizabeth Duthie, Bruce Circle, Fraserburgh.
Nothing to be thankful for
Sir, – I refer to the letter from Ivan W Reid (Press and Journal, February 13) in which he states that he has much to be thankful for living in the UK and that he feels completely safe living in the current environment prevalent in this country, and he attacks the media for portraying the UK as a lame duck.
Well, he needs to take a firm grasp of reality.
Thanks mainly to leftist influences we are currently undergoing a major series of strikes.
The mere fact that, for the first time ever, nurses have to take industrial action in order to receive a decent rate of pay, we have inflation in double figures, armed forces having severe cutbacks in spite of supplying military hardware to Ukraine, a Holyrood Parliament which has achieved nothing positive in over 14 years in power, with a leader who has lost any credibility she may have had due to the gender issue, three UK prime ministers in less than a year, Boris Johnson and his behaviour during lockdown rules, and to name another of many, the unstoppable flood of so-called asylum seekers entering the country.
If Ivan W Reid is comfortable with the aforementioned and many other issues affecting this country, his comfort zone needs to be seriously questioned.
Is it any surprise that the once Great Britain is now regarded by many countries as a joke, with the reasons for the now defunct “empire” being seriously questioned by the woke brigade and Greenpeace groups who have repeatedly broken the law and cost the taxpayer millions to police such irresponsible behaviour.
John Reid, Regent Court, Keith.
A9 dualling kicked into long grass
Sir, – Anyone travelling the A9 in the last year and noticing the dearth of any construction activity, would realise that the SNP government had kicked the whole dualling project into the long grass.
The death knell was rung when the first minister signed a deal with the Greens, to gain an absolute majority in Parliament. And what was the asking price for such a deal? Well we all know the present incumbents are anti-roads, anti-oil and gas, anti- economic growth, anti- everything.
The reason given for missing the 2025 completion date is an insult to the intelligence of the electorate. Blame Covid and Putin, says the transport secretary!
The SNP has become mainly a Central Belt party. Sturgeon has made the political calculation that the sparse population north of Perth does not matter too much.
With the exception of some, the silence from our elected SNP MSPs has been deafening. Are they so under the control of the party that they cannot stand up for the interests of their constituents?
I live in hope that one day the Scottish electorate, especially north of Perth, will wake up and smell the coffee and realise the disastrous damage being done to the transport systems in the north, by an utterly incompetent and cynical government.
John Munro, Bogbain Road, Tain.
Nothing but praise for CalMac
Sir, – I wish to endorse, without exception, the comments made by your correspondent, Doug Gibb, “Ferries don’t need political input” (Press and Journal, February 18). The ferry situation is a shambles despite Pentland Ferries having shown the way forward without subsidy.
I only wish to make one brief comment and that is that, having had virtually no constructive adverse comment, CalMac have received nothing but praise from beleaguered island communities for doing an amazing job with aged, inappropriate and outdated vessels. If these islanders can see, with such clarity, that the blame lies exclusively with CMal, Transport Scotland and our inept government, why cannot the these bodies draw conclusions? I should not dignify the word “government” with a capital “G”.
J Patrick Maclean, Aros Ard, Oban.
Letter writer appreciated
Sir, – I had been anticipating keenly the response of Herbert Petrie to the resignation of the first minister. I wondered how many of his now familiar falsehoods he could pack into one letter and I was not disappointed. He asserts that she was “truly well liked and respected”. Polls indicate that a significant number of people wished her to go.
He asserts that the people of Scotland and our country always came first. Not so. Her focus was always on a divisive and unwanted referendum. He repeats what even he must know is the great lie that Scotland subsidises England. He fantasises about a further referendum which is not going to take place.
Truly his best letter yet!
David Burnside, Albert Terrace, Aberdeen.
How to treat a valued employee
Sir, – There is so much truth in the closing remark from the letter of Sybil Wilkie (Press and Journal, February 2) that “we should appreciate the hard working, punctual and committed”.
I had the good fortune to work with such a person during my spell as a farm servant many decades ago.
Leaving school within a year of each other, two teenagers without a paper qualification between us, we worked the meagre soil found in the uplands of rural Aberdeenshire and tended the animals until the farm where we worked changed tenancy when his services were quickly secured by the owners of a neighbouring farm who knew his worth and where he spent close on 40 years of his farming life maintaining the same work ethic he demonstrated in his teenage years.
In contrast to the unfortunate experiences of the correspondent, his employers were appreciative of his dedicated service, ensuring he was suitably honoured on retirement by receiving the Royal Highland Agricultural Society medal and certificate for his long and distinguished service to the farming industry.
A quiet hard-working man who, in the words of his employer, “at the height of winter storms would walk the several miles to work, such was his commitment and dedication to his job”. Their gesture is a fine example to employers of how to treat a valued employee.
Ivan W Reid, Kirkburn, Laurencekirk.
Torry has had a bad deal for far too long
Sir, – I felt I had to write in support of Renee Slater’s letter (EE February 16). What she writes is true.
I was an Aberdeen City councillor for 18 years from 1999 to 2017 when I retired. For all of those 18 years I was a member of the planning committee so I was involved in a lot of planning applications for Torry.
The first major planning application was for the new sewage works.
I was concerned about smells, knowing how the residents had to put up with horrible smells from a factory long since closed. I was assured there would be no smell from the new sewage works. How wrong was that! I was on the board of directors of Aberdeen Countryside Project, later renamed Aberdeen Greenspace, for many years and they did a lot of work cleaning the burn planting and making what it looks like today. We were all pleased with the results as were the local residents.
It appears that this area is now under threat.
The icing on the cake is this horrible gigantic new incinerator so near to Tullos School. When we went on the site visit for this one I was horrified at the location and made my objections clear. However, we were outvoted.
This application was mooted as a wonderful source of heat and power, so I think that swayed those who voted for it. We were told it needed 46 lorry loads of waste per day to feed it to make it viable.
Now the only piece of green is under threat for the new harbour. I think it is despicable how the good folk of Torry have been and are being treated.
Muriel Jaffrey, Scotstown Gardens, Bridge of Don.
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