Readers' Letters: We could do with more politicians of Norman Tebbit's calibre

While thoroughly disagreeing with many of his policies and statements, I admired his unwavering honesty. Even his infamous call for the unemployed to “get on their bikes” was a quote from his father. With him, you knew exactly what you were getting, and he never forgot his working class roots.

His humane side was vividly demonstrated after surviving the Brighton bomb attack, hardly unscathed. His wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down and his devoted care of her for the rest of her life until her death a few years ago was truly the mark of the man.

We could do with men and women of his calibre in government today, whatever their political views. Somehow, Norman Tebbit transcended party lines.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Scotland failed

Independence was a pipe dream. It is time to accept the Indy ship has sailed, it's a done deal and has been for the past 11 years.

Today, we as a nation need to focus, we need to look after those in need and pave the way to allowing future generations to prosper again.

Scotland's government has over the past 18 years deferred blame to Westminster and continues to do so, yet we in Scotland have nothing to complain about when it comes to spending per head of population. We have falling standards in education, health, a soft touch judicial system, delayed ferries, high drug deaths, high taxes and poor infrastructure, the blame for which lies firmly at the door of the Scottish Government as all are devolved matters.

Fergus Ewing MSP has left the sinking ship, not because he has become a unionist but because he cares about his constituents and he cannot and will not align himself with continued propaganda and failed promises. He should be applauded for taking a common sense morally sound stance.

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon prepares to start a £75 per head book launch tour and continues to draw full MSP salary and benefits, yet decline in our services continue, with accountability appearing to be an unknown entity for these Nationalist members of the Scottish Parliament.

The current trend away from stale governance will continue, with Reform on course to become the opposition in Holyrood next year.

The sooner the better, in my humble opinion.

Conrad Ritchie, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire

Never happy

Many years ago, I worked on a North Sea oil and gas platform. We did a regular pattern of two weeks on, two weeks off. Only a handful of the workforce were employed by the operating company, of which I was one.

The admin guys, who supervised the crew changes, would often say “you always know when it's a Shell flight, the whining goes on long after the engines are shut down”. There was maybe a bit of truth in that.

I was reminded of this when I read of Shona Robison's reaction to the close to £6 billion record boost to the ailing Health Service in Scotland, which she supervises. “Scotland,” she said, “is being short-changed”.

The whining still goes on, long after the £6bn has been deposited in the SNP coffers. Without grievance, would the SNP cease to exist?

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Give us ID cards

Recent articles and letters in The Scotsman have drawn attention to the place of identity cards in controlling immigration. Many years ago a motion to introduce them was thrown out of a Liberal Party conference, but In 2006 a National Identity Card was introduced by a Labour Government, only to be abolished by the Conservative/Liberal coalition in 2011.

More recently a student arriving on one of the boats was asked why so many illegal immigrants wanted to come to the UK. He gave two reasons; the first was language, in that many already spoke English, and the second reason was that, unlike most European countries, the UK does not have identity cards.

The great majority of boat people are young men, coming to one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. At the moment we have a profusion of identity numbers, such as for passports, health, National Insurance, driving licences and tax. These could be combined with biometric data, and with better protection against misuse than there is at present.

David Hannay, Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway

Expect exceptions

We absolutely agree with Christopher Shaw’s letter (9 July) regarding the appalling damaged caused to hedgerows and verges by wind farm developers during road-widening operations to accommodate the transportation of wind turbines in the middle of the bird breeding season. It is about as far removed from saving the planet and enhancing wildlife as could possibly be imagined.

Monica Lennon MSP seeks to impose harsh penalties for causing irreversible environmental damage, including up to 20 years in prison, through her proposed Ecocide (Prevention) (Scotland) Bill. It seems to us that this particular act of wanton destruction would fall fair and square within the definition for prosecution, yet nowhere does the Bill mention renewable energy developments.

We suspect and fear that the defence of “necessity” will be rolled out to get renewables developers off the hook.

Failing that, if any were ever successfully prosecuted for Ecocide should the bill become law, it is likely the Scottish Government will move sharpish to pass amending regulations that would let renewables developers off the hook – section 11 of the bill provides: “The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make any incidental, supplementary, consequential, transitional, transitory or savings provision they consider appropriate for the purposes of, in connection with or for giving full effect to this Act.”

Quelle surprise!

Aileen Jackson, Uplawmoor, East Renfrewshire

Meal tickets

I note that the weather forecast for Edinburgh this weekend is predicting temperatures in the region of 27 degrees Celsius or higher.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why cycle food delivery riders will all be wearing long trousers, hoodie with hood up over head, down gilet, balaclava, facemask and, understandably perhaps, dark glasses?

Or do they have something to hide ?

KJ Harvey, Edinburgh

Hollow words

I agree with almost everything Ian Petrie says in his letter of 8 July. But he is wrong to suggest the infamous Balfour Declaration made no mention of the Palestinian people.

In fact the declaration stated that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

That promise rings very hollow today. In fact in the 1940s the British government capitulated to a vicious campaign by Jewish terrorist groups, the Irgun and the Stern Gang, who planted bombs and kidnapped, tortured and murdered British soldiers, then boobytrapped their bodies. Britain handed back its mandate to the United Nations and left the Palestinians to their fate. The gangs turned their attention to the Palestinians, causing hundreds of thousands to flee, leaving the tragic consequences we are dealing with today.

Robert Cairns, Ceres, Fife

Chess game

It is intriguing to note that the British Museum will loan the Lewis Chessmen to France in exchange for the Bayeux Tapestry, set to return to England for the first time in more than 900 years.

The Chessmen have become unlikely diplomatic pawns between Britain and France. In return for the Tapestry, which depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings, the British Museum will loan the Sutton Hoo collection, the Lewis Chessmen, and other items to France. The pieces – a famous hoard of 93 objects – were discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis. Eleven are in the National Museums Scotland (NMS) collection, while the remaining 82 are in the British Museum’s collection, six of which are on loan to Museum nan Eilean in Lewis.

It is clearly fantastic to be able to showcase the Chessmen to a wider audience and allow others to check them out.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh

It’s just 10p

Rumours that the government is likely to freeze the personal tax threshold have spurred headlines about pensioners being "dragged" into paying income tax for the first time. The current threshold for income tax is £12,570 in one year. The current maximum state pension is £11, 973.

The "triple lock" could mean that the pension will rise by 5.2 per cent (£622) next year to £12,595.60. This is £25 over the threshold, meaning pensioners on the maximum state pension would pay 20 per cent tax on that £25 (£5) – an extra 10p a week. Those receiving smaller pensions would still not pay tax.

While I appreciate this creates a precedent, surely it's a microscopic price to pay for our share of improved NHS and defence of the country. I can't understand why Keir Starmer doesn't explain this. It's simple, reassuring, arithmetic.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

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