Readers' letters: Donald Trump's 'victory' is hollow at best

Experts maintain Iran has still got stocks of ballistic missiles, enriched uranium and the regime has essentially not changed. It’s difficult to argue that any objectives have been fully accomplished.

Other Western powers like the UK will be expected to police the Strait of Hormuz which comes with more danger than any activity US forces were engaged in.

Here in Scotland the public will be left with high fuel, energy and food prices for many months to come thanks to Trump and Netanyahu’s unprovoked war. The cost-of-living crisis just got a lot worse.

Ultimately the Iranian people are the main losers. They have suffered weeks of bombing, including schools and hospitals, with thousands killed or injured. “Help is on its way” declared Trump but it never came and he left their country in ruins. Iran will remain a pariah state that crushes dissent by its own people for years to come.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Trump’s disaster

When I read the letter from Gerald Edwards (9 April) claiming that Trump had “achieved a huge political success” I had to conclude that he has only the most distant acquaintance with reality. Not only is Trump’s approval rating down in the low 30s, he is facing impeachment by the Democrats, while the American public are unhappy with the way prices are rising and an increasing number of Republicans are critical of the way he was drawn into the Iran war by Netanyahu.

And as for the Strait of Hormuz – far from being opened by Trump’s “negotiations”, as I write it is firmly closed to most marine traffic, with Iran deciding whether to allow through a few vessels willing to pay a $1 million fee. Before the war, of course, it was open to all shipping with no question of any cost being imposed.

Meanwhile the appalling Iran regime is still firmly in control – with the assassinated leaders replaced by younger, even more hard-line ones, the enriched uranium is still hidden away and the drones are still being fired at the Gulf states. The whole ill-thought-out enterprise is a disaster and Starmer showed excellent judgement in refusing to be bounced into it.

Barry Hughes, Edinburgh

Silence the guns

Carnage exemplifies failure. The UK must deploy its arsenal of diplomacy and dialogue to secure a durable settlement in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf.

We are horrified by the haunting images of decimated and mutilated bodies of innocent civilians in Lebanon, rescued from underneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. What Israel has done is simply a contemptuous disregard for the inviolability of human rights and international law. This is a grim reminder of the lengths to which Israel and its staunch supporters such as President Trump will go to threaten our civilised world.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London

Royal visit

Contrary to William Loneskie (Letters, 9 April) I think that King Charles should undertake to visit the United States to celebrate their 250th anniversary. After all, this celebration belongs, not to President Trump, but to the American people themselves.

Trump, the 47th President, is surely the worst and most corrupt of them all. Single-handedly, he has inflcted so much damage at home and abroad, not least on climate change, which he has described as fake nonsense.

Climate change and the whole question of nature are subjects close to King Charles’ heart. He has the marvellous opportunity to address Congress on both topics, arguably the most critical in the world today.

If nothing else, King Charles’ popularity will simply exacerbate President Trump’s own deep unpopularity. King Charles should participate in these celebrations and not sidestep the opportunity they bring.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Critical thinking

“Scotland’s greatest resource is our people,” states Jackie Baillie (Perspective, 7 April). I so agree with her. That is why as a proud gran of two graduates and one about to graduate I write to deplore the arguments that are currently being promoted that seek to devalue universities’ ability to promote research and critical thinking.

I have read and applauded the research and critical analysis of my grandchildren’s research in their dissertations of 10,000-plus plus words with interest and awe.

No way would I denigrate an apprenticeship. I think they are of great benefit to our young people and to our society. But why is it becoming an issue to devalue one in order promote the other? Scotland needs skilled tradespeople, but it also needs critical thinkers.

Jean Livingstone, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

Neuk warning

I much enjoyed the photo-feature on the East Neuk of Fife (Scotsman, 8 April) – my wife grew up in St Andrews and we’ve always liked to visit those parts of the Kingdom of Fife.

A few years ago we booked an Easter weekend break in Elie in self-catering accommodation, and we noted from the visitors’ book there that a previous occupant had enjoyed their visit to the “East Nuke”.

There was no indication that they’d been to the Secret Bunker at St Andrews, though.

Alasdair J C Taylor, Edinburgh

Voting dilemma

I turned 18 in 1990, and I have voted in every election since, whether it be a general election, Scottish Election, European election or council election.

I voted Labour in the last election, but due to the huge amount of U-turns and the constant attacks on pensioners and the disabled I don’t feel I can vote for them this time.

I previously voted for the SNP but due to the various issues surrounding the party, I can’t vote for them.

I grew up in a mining village in the 1980s and saw the devastation Thatcher caused so I could never and will never vote tory. Reform are racist and effectively Tories by another name.

When I lived in Dunfermline we had a Lib Dem MP, Willie Rennie, now an MSP. When our factory was closing we had a campaign to get additional redundancy from the multi-national company. He was squarely on the side of management, hopefully a part of the reason he lost his seat.

Nobody else is standing on the constituency list.

Can any of the parties tell me why I should vote for them, given what I have said?

Alan Boyce, Dalkeith, Midlothian

So many questions

It is strange to see the lunatic fringe suddenly realising that they can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes any more. John Swinney has become a sudden and not very credible convert to the exploitation and use of North Sea oil and gas. Does he remember Grangemouth? Whatever happened to all those jobs, Mr Swinney?

How about the ones that are disappearing every week in Aberdeen, the north-east and elsewhere, thanks to your former party leader Nicola Sturgeon and your SNP policies? Not a word of apology from her or from the SNP, of course.

The same goes for one Ed Miliband, who must be the last person who actually believes in net zero being a good thing. The rest of us have twigged that it means exactly that: zero anything. There would be zero oil; zero gas; zero heat; zero transport; zero jobs; zero income; zero savings; zero pensions; zero life. Very clever.

Does Mr Swinney still believe that men and women can change their sex? I would dearly like to know, as would millions of other Scots.

So many questions for Mr Swinney and Mr Flynn to answer. So many for Mr Sarwar too. Does he believe in Keir Starmer? Does he believe in Scotland and the UK? Does he believe in oil? Does he believe in gas?

Questions. Questions. But no answers.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Open goal

John Swinney has revealed that he has written to Gianni Infantino, president of Fifa, to ask him to reconsider charging very high prices for attending the World Cup finals. He has entered some special pleading about Scots fans not having had the opportunity to watch their home side compete in this event for many years and that “our historic return has been marred by Fifa’s dynamic pricing model that… is the opposite of what football…should be about”.

Mr Swinney signs his letter “John Swinney, First Minister of Scotland”, on notepaper bearing his address. But the address is not that of the First Minister of Scotland. The notepaper is headed: “SNP [logo], The Scottish National Party, Gordon Lamb House, 2 Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ”. Mr Infantino may or may not know that the First Minister’s address is rather more imposing: Bute House, 6 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, as the brass plate in front of it confirms.

Why would Mr Swinney write, as First Minister, to the head of Fifa on SNP party notepaper rather than official First Minister notepaper? There is one possible answer: because the intended audience for the letter is not Mr Infantino at all, but rather those Scots on the electoral register. Election propaganda comes in different forms. Mr Swinney is using this letter as an electioneering leaflet rather than as a genuine appeal which will very probably fall on deaf ears.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

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